Liebe Freunde, Liebe Familie.
Hellooooo Everybody. I am currently emailing you from the sunny skies of Bergedorf....BECAUSE, we still don't have the passwords to the computers in Lauenburg yet. BUT, next week we should be having a little chit chat with our member friend and getting them. (oh yeah and the skies are more a light shade of gray)
This week went by insanely fast. Elder Anderson and I are trying to get this program up and running so that we can just zoom through the weeks here. Yestarday was such a great day. We taught a investigator family. I can't tell you too much information but what I can tell you is that they are from Syria. The son speaks pretty much perfect english and he has a lot of interest. The Grandfather doesn't speak english or german so the other family members translate for us. Oh yeah and he was a ping pong champion from Syria. P days in Eberswalde usually revolved around either Ping Pong or going to Berlin so with my hours of practicing ping pong I decided to put it to the test. He, was really really good. He somehow found a way to just power shoot it pretty much every time so i had to be super fast. It was such a fun match and I am the only one who will play with him because his family doesn't like to lose to him all of the time. So our ping pong friendship will hopefully continue in the upcoming months.
I am going to cut this email a little short because my comp and I have to pick up something in order to make it back in time for a meeting with our ward mission leader.
Highlights of the week.
We taught one of our other investigators about baptism and he said he would pray about it.
Hamburg for a meeting with the district leaders. I got to go out with a greenie and do a little finding. I really want to train now.
Sunday an eating appointment with the bishop. I had to really really focus because he speaks insanely fast.
TODAY IS P DAY!!!!!!!!!
Had the opportunity to share my testimony of the gospel to our syrian family.
This week will bring another adventure to our paths and hopefully a longer email to write. This church is true, this gospel is true, I love you all.
Elder Riggs.
The Lord is My Shepherd.
Monday, July 25, 2016
Sunday, July 24, 2016
Lauenburg - July 11, 2016
Liebe Freunde, Liebe Familie.
Helloooooooooo Everbody!!!!!!!!! Well I arrived in the lovely city of Lauenburg last wednesday and so far I am loving this place so much. If you want to know what it looks like look it up on google. The Elbe borders us and this place has an Alt Stadt. Translates to old city. Classic German architecture with cobblestone (kills the feet but looks good) Falk Werk and narrow alley ways but a really great place nontheless. Once a week we go to a city called Luneburg which has the coolest downtown I have seen. Its been the best one so far in my area. I am in the west again so unfortunately döners arent exactly the best but I am super excited to spend my next few months here and cant wait to spread the love and gospel to the people of Lauenburg.
The Ward is HUUUUUUGE!!!!! (In perspective to Eberswalde) 60 members on a normal sunday. Everyone is so nice and I cant wait to make new friends here. I am currently emailing from Hamburg though because on of the members changed the passwords to the computers. But next week we should hopefully get them and I can email from Lauenburg.
GREAT NEWS!!!!!!!!!! We found someone to teach this week. It has pretty much been a few months since I have found anyone and it was really getting down on me. Everyone in Eberswalde was pretty much atheist so it was kind of a struglle to find people to teach. Her name is Nasi. She comes from Afghanistan and speaks perfect German in fact she translates for a lot of refugees in the area. She was born muslim but didnt like the teachings or traditions of the muslim faith so currently she doesnt have a specific Faith but she believes that there is a God. We talked on the street and I had the opportunity to testify of the truthfulness of the Gospel and because God loves us he gave us the full truth and a way back to him. She took it very well and we will be meeting with her sometime this week.
RANDOM STORY!!!!!!!!!!! This morning as we were getting in our car a little spider decided to make his home in the car betweent he steering wheel and the drivers seat.
SPIRITUAL THOUGHT!!!!!!!!!!! Yestarday was my first day of church here in Lauenburg and for the lesson the teacher talked about the temple. He asked: Why do we as members of the church focus so much on the temple? The mission theme in Berlin Germany Focused on the blessings of the temple, teach repentacne, and baptize converts. Growing up in utah there was always a temple within a ten minute drive and I realized I kind of took that for granted. The faith of members around the world are amazing. Beause some members dont have a temple in their area they have to save for years simply to get to a place where there is one. Without the tmeple the whole idea of eternal families dissappear. It is a place where we can commune with our Father and where we can receive revelation. Dont miss out on a chance to attend the temple. Time sometimes gets in the way of things and Satan sometimes likes to throw things in our way that make our lives too busy. Make time to go to the temple. It is there where i have felt more peace than I have felt in my life and where I can feel the love of my Father.
Elder Riggs
The Lord is My Shepherd.
Helloooooooooo Everbody!!!!!!!!! Well I arrived in the lovely city of Lauenburg last wednesday and so far I am loving this place so much. If you want to know what it looks like look it up on google. The Elbe borders us and this place has an Alt Stadt. Translates to old city. Classic German architecture with cobblestone (kills the feet but looks good) Falk Werk and narrow alley ways but a really great place nontheless. Once a week we go to a city called Luneburg which has the coolest downtown I have seen. Its been the best one so far in my area. I am in the west again so unfortunately döners arent exactly the best but I am super excited to spend my next few months here and cant wait to spread the love and gospel to the people of Lauenburg.
The Ward is HUUUUUUGE!!!!! (In perspective to Eberswalde) 60 members on a normal sunday. Everyone is so nice and I cant wait to make new friends here. I am currently emailing from Hamburg though because on of the members changed the passwords to the computers. But next week we should hopefully get them and I can email from Lauenburg.
GREAT NEWS!!!!!!!!!! We found someone to teach this week. It has pretty much been a few months since I have found anyone and it was really getting down on me. Everyone in Eberswalde was pretty much atheist so it was kind of a struglle to find people to teach. Her name is Nasi. She comes from Afghanistan and speaks perfect German in fact she translates for a lot of refugees in the area. She was born muslim but didnt like the teachings or traditions of the muslim faith so currently she doesnt have a specific Faith but she believes that there is a God. We talked on the street and I had the opportunity to testify of the truthfulness of the Gospel and because God loves us he gave us the full truth and a way back to him. She took it very well and we will be meeting with her sometime this week.
RANDOM STORY!!!!!!!!!!! This morning as we were getting in our car a little spider decided to make his home in the car betweent he steering wheel and the drivers seat.
SPIRITUAL THOUGHT!!!!!!!!!!! Yestarday was my first day of church here in Lauenburg and for the lesson the teacher talked about the temple. He asked: Why do we as members of the church focus so much on the temple? The mission theme in Berlin Germany Focused on the blessings of the temple, teach repentacne, and baptize converts. Growing up in utah there was always a temple within a ten minute drive and I realized I kind of took that for granted. The faith of members around the world are amazing. Beause some members dont have a temple in their area they have to save for years simply to get to a place where there is one. Without the tmeple the whole idea of eternal families dissappear. It is a place where we can commune with our Father and where we can receive revelation. Dont miss out on a chance to attend the temple. Time sometimes gets in the way of things and Satan sometimes likes to throw things in our way that make our lives too busy. Make time to go to the temple. It is there where i have felt more peace than I have felt in my life and where I can feel the love of my Father.
Elder Riggs
The Lord is My Shepherd.
Leaving my family for the second time. July 4, 2016
Liebe Freunde, Liebe Familie.
Helloo Everybody. Well we got our calls......I will unfortunately be leaving the lovely city of Eberswalde....however I will be going to another great city called Lauenburg. I looked it up today and it looks gorgeous. It overlooks a lake and there seems to be a lot of Falk Werk in the area. I cannot wait to get to know new people, my new companion and to be able to spread my love in however many ways as possible.
So this is my last P day here. And it will probably be the best. We are going to a members house to have a fourth of July party!!!!!! WITH SMORES!!!!! I am going to try super hard to not get trunky but the sight of grahm crackers (Which don't exist here in germany) and hershey bars (Also don't exist) and marshmallows (Do exist) may do just that. One last hoorah before I leave.
Yestarday was a really emotional day for me. I woke up that morning and I knew it was going to be a rough day. Something that still amazes me to this day is how much I appreciate the members here. It is the smallest branch I have ever seen and it is literally hanging by a thread but the relationships I developed, the memories I made, the laughs we shared all came crashing down at me all at once and I realized it will be a very long time before I see them again. I could barely give my last testimony because of how hard it was to just talk. Crying while talking is hard in english but it's even harder in German so I gave it my best and told everyone just how much I loved them and how thankful I was for their love and their friendship. Thankfully they will all be going to the Freiberg open house and hopefully I will be there at the same time. After Sacramant meeting I was playing the organ as poslude and decided to pay the song "God be with you till we meet again" I realized that wasn't the best idea because everyone was dead silent just looking at me and the waterfalls came again...So I stopped. But I really loved this branch. They literally became my second family and it was very hard to leave.
Also just leaving this great zone was kind of a challenge. I am so grateful to have been a part of this zone. It was challenging but I have learned and grown so much from it. So many blessings came from being a part of it and I am so grateful to my God for that. First of all I got to meet a man who really changed me and helped me get through some rough spots in the mission. Elder Thomas. He is pretty much the most christlike person I have ever met. And he helped me really draw nearer to my savior. It will be glorius to one day be home and to be able to talke with him and many other people I meet along the way about how close this mission was to our hearts. I also got to meet my long lost brother/best friend/bro for dayzzzzzzz Elder Bennet. I love this guy. I am going to miss going for a jog or those nightly conversations where we simply talked about what life really means for us. It always somehow centers around gospel conversations and really appreciate the kind of man he is. Love you bro. My comp Elder Partridge I will likeiwse miss very much but the journey must go on and there are more things to do in different lands. I'm sad to be leaving but happy that I get to continue moving forward preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ to help change the hearts of people.
This week we were on exchanges and I stayed here with Elder Allen from Neu Brandenburg. We had an appointment with one of my favorite investiagators. Herr Bergmann. A little intro. He has two doctrites and was a professor so our good friend Bruder Schmidt says we have to calle him professor doctor doctor bergmann. He's 83 years old and loves to just sit and talk about the history of germany or whatever else comes in his library of smarts. Great man. One of the things I sometimes regret is when I was with Elder Thomas I wanted to Tschuss him (That means stop teaching him) He hasn't made any progress and has been taught for years by the missionaries so i thought well we need to look for someone else who will make progress. I am so glad I got to teach him and make the decision not to tschuss him. Anyway Elder Allen and I went over and we received the news that he has been having heart problems and will probably pass on in the next life in a couple of weeks. I admired what he said. He told us he was completely and entirely ready to meet the Creator. He had lived his life and it was his time to leave it. I know confidently he will accept this gospel in his upcoming life. One of the things thomas taught me was to not give up on anyone even though they don't seem to make any progress. They will be even more ready and willing to accept the gospel in the life to come and I am confident our Heavenly Father will welcome him with open arms. He gave one of the most powerful testimonies of the Book of Mormon I have heard. He knows it is true without a doubt he knows it comes from God I couldn't help but just grin from ear to ear at the words that came from his mouth.
Well. This is my last email from the walde of ebers. It's time to start a new adventure. New memories, new people to love, and more people to bring to the fold. Elder Riggs out.
Signing off from Eberswalde.
Love you all.
The Lord is my Shepherd.
Helloo Everybody. Well we got our calls......I will unfortunately be leaving the lovely city of Eberswalde....however I will be going to another great city called Lauenburg. I looked it up today and it looks gorgeous. It overlooks a lake and there seems to be a lot of Falk Werk in the area. I cannot wait to get to know new people, my new companion and to be able to spread my love in however many ways as possible.
So this is my last P day here. And it will probably be the best. We are going to a members house to have a fourth of July party!!!!!! WITH SMORES!!!!! I am going to try super hard to not get trunky but the sight of grahm crackers (Which don't exist here in germany) and hershey bars (Also don't exist) and marshmallows (Do exist) may do just that. One last hoorah before I leave.
Yestarday was a really emotional day for me. I woke up that morning and I knew it was going to be a rough day. Something that still amazes me to this day is how much I appreciate the members here. It is the smallest branch I have ever seen and it is literally hanging by a thread but the relationships I developed, the memories I made, the laughs we shared all came crashing down at me all at once and I realized it will be a very long time before I see them again. I could barely give my last testimony because of how hard it was to just talk. Crying while talking is hard in english but it's even harder in German so I gave it my best and told everyone just how much I loved them and how thankful I was for their love and their friendship. Thankfully they will all be going to the Freiberg open house and hopefully I will be there at the same time. After Sacramant meeting I was playing the organ as poslude and decided to pay the song "God be with you till we meet again" I realized that wasn't the best idea because everyone was dead silent just looking at me and the waterfalls came again...So I stopped. But I really loved this branch. They literally became my second family and it was very hard to leave.
Also just leaving this great zone was kind of a challenge. I am so grateful to have been a part of this zone. It was challenging but I have learned and grown so much from it. So many blessings came from being a part of it and I am so grateful to my God for that. First of all I got to meet a man who really changed me and helped me get through some rough spots in the mission. Elder Thomas. He is pretty much the most christlike person I have ever met. And he helped me really draw nearer to my savior. It will be glorius to one day be home and to be able to talke with him and many other people I meet along the way about how close this mission was to our hearts. I also got to meet my long lost brother/best friend/bro for dayzzzzzzz Elder Bennet. I love this guy. I am going to miss going for a jog or those nightly conversations where we simply talked about what life really means for us. It always somehow centers around gospel conversations and really appreciate the kind of man he is. Love you bro. My comp Elder Partridge I will likeiwse miss very much but the journey must go on and there are more things to do in different lands. I'm sad to be leaving but happy that I get to continue moving forward preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ to help change the hearts of people.
This week we were on exchanges and I stayed here with Elder Allen from Neu Brandenburg. We had an appointment with one of my favorite investiagators. Herr Bergmann. A little intro. He has two doctrites and was a professor so our good friend Bruder Schmidt says we have to calle him professor doctor doctor bergmann. He's 83 years old and loves to just sit and talk about the history of germany or whatever else comes in his library of smarts. Great man. One of the things I sometimes regret is when I was with Elder Thomas I wanted to Tschuss him (That means stop teaching him) He hasn't made any progress and has been taught for years by the missionaries so i thought well we need to look for someone else who will make progress. I am so glad I got to teach him and make the decision not to tschuss him. Anyway Elder Allen and I went over and we received the news that he has been having heart problems and will probably pass on in the next life in a couple of weeks. I admired what he said. He told us he was completely and entirely ready to meet the Creator. He had lived his life and it was his time to leave it. I know confidently he will accept this gospel in his upcoming life. One of the things thomas taught me was to not give up on anyone even though they don't seem to make any progress. They will be even more ready and willing to accept the gospel in the life to come and I am confident our Heavenly Father will welcome him with open arms. He gave one of the most powerful testimonies of the Book of Mormon I have heard. He knows it is true without a doubt he knows it comes from God I couldn't help but just grin from ear to ear at the words that came from his mouth.
Well. This is my last email from the walde of ebers. It's time to start a new adventure. New memories, new people to love, and more people to bring to the fold. Elder Riggs out.
Signing off from Eberswalde.
Love you all.
The Lord is my Shepherd.
Tuesday, June 28, 2016
Blisters for DAYZZZZZ - June 27, 2016
Liebe Freunde, Liebe Familie.
Man oh man oh man. This weekend is our transfer calls......I REALLY DO NOT WANT TO LEAVE THIS GLORIOUS PLACE!!!!!!!!!!!! I have a very gut wrenching feeling that I will be and the lord has other things planned. Rumor has it that Elder Partridge will be receiving a companion that is also learning Arabic which will make it much easier on his part. There is a very slight chance that I will be able to stay. (I hope)
As from the subject title states. I have many blisters. They hurt. But currently one pair of shoes is completely destroyed and the other pair is an it's way to being utterly destroyed. In Neu Brandenburg they have to walk everywhere and it takes at least an hour to get to appointments and then an hour back. On top of that we have to do a ton of finding which was actually a very enjoyable experience. I had a great conversation with a man about the family and I think we talked for like 30 minutes. He's going on vacation for like a week but he said when he gets back maybe he'll contact the missionaries. Anyyyway. Lots and lots of walking. But I learned a lesson. My good friend Elder Hughes who is one of the most obedient/amazing missionaries I have met was talking about how when things get hard all we have to do is look at it in a different perspective. Yeah I did a lot of walking but nothing can compare to that of those people who sacrificed almost everything to come to a place where they could worship their God. Yeah I had a lot of blisters that may bleed but nothing compares to that of the one who bled from every pore so he could understand the pain we would go through as we sometimes walk in the blistering heat for many hours. My attitude completely changed and I found the work much more enjoyable.
But it was honestly a fantastic week. We visited a less active who is trying to prepare for the temple and she gave us this giant bowl filled with ice cream and strawberries and whipped cream and some chocolate shavings over the top. What a small tender mercy as that day was incredible warm. It didn't last very long because I scarffed that thing down in like five minutes but I was so grateful for that delectable treat.
Ten months out and this work is still my favorite kind of work to do. Sometimes it's hard to see the fruits of your labors but when you do the reward is far greater than I first imagined. I love each and every one of you. God be with you till we meet again.
Elder Riggs
The Lord is My shepherd.
Man oh man oh man. This weekend is our transfer calls......I REALLY DO NOT WANT TO LEAVE THIS GLORIOUS PLACE!!!!!!!!!!!! I have a very gut wrenching feeling that I will be and the lord has other things planned. Rumor has it that Elder Partridge will be receiving a companion that is also learning Arabic which will make it much easier on his part. There is a very slight chance that I will be able to stay. (I hope)
As from the subject title states. I have many blisters. They hurt. But currently one pair of shoes is completely destroyed and the other pair is an it's way to being utterly destroyed. In Neu Brandenburg they have to walk everywhere and it takes at least an hour to get to appointments and then an hour back. On top of that we have to do a ton of finding which was actually a very enjoyable experience. I had a great conversation with a man about the family and I think we talked for like 30 minutes. He's going on vacation for like a week but he said when he gets back maybe he'll contact the missionaries. Anyyyway. Lots and lots of walking. But I learned a lesson. My good friend Elder Hughes who is one of the most obedient/amazing missionaries I have met was talking about how when things get hard all we have to do is look at it in a different perspective. Yeah I did a lot of walking but nothing can compare to that of those people who sacrificed almost everything to come to a place where they could worship their God. Yeah I had a lot of blisters that may bleed but nothing compares to that of the one who bled from every pore so he could understand the pain we would go through as we sometimes walk in the blistering heat for many hours. My attitude completely changed and I found the work much more enjoyable.
But it was honestly a fantastic week. We visited a less active who is trying to prepare for the temple and she gave us this giant bowl filled with ice cream and strawberries and whipped cream and some chocolate shavings over the top. What a small tender mercy as that day was incredible warm. It didn't last very long because I scarffed that thing down in like five minutes but I was so grateful for that delectable treat.
Ten months out and this work is still my favorite kind of work to do. Sometimes it's hard to see the fruits of your labors but when you do the reward is far greater than I first imagined. I love each and every one of you. God be with you till we meet again.
Elder Riggs
The Lord is My shepherd.
YO - 6.20.2016
Liebe Freunde, Liebe Famile.
HELLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Everybody.
Wow last week marked the most stressful week of my mission in my entire mission life. And it hasn't quite ended yet tomorrow and the stress is gone. But we received a call that my comp will be in Frankfurt Oder for an entire week for his arabic class and I am currently chilling with the Neu B Elders and it's AWESOME!!!! I also got to chill with the super awesome Elder Mayer and my best friend Elder bennett for like four days last week. The Neu B elders are such great guys and I am super stoked to learn from them.
Last week Michael fell out.......And he didn't come to church. It was rough. Satan is really working his butt off on this guy so that means we need to work harder and bring him on back. In my personal study this morning I was reading Teaching Like the Savior and I decided that I really need to start calling Investigators and really letting them know more of my love for them. But I hope this is just a phase. Satan is smart but Jesus is smarter.
Yestarday was an amazing day. In part of the stress of preparing for the week I still had to write a talk and so I decided to just do the talk about what my lesson was for District meeting about obedience. Well my talk was all ready to go and I was just about to give it when for some reason it just felt off. Like I wasn't supposed to give the talk I had prepared. I got up there and simply said. I wrote a talk but I'm not going to give it. So I didn't even opened my I pad and just started to talk about whatever came to mind. I know that I talk about hope a lot in my emails but that's what I talked about on Sunday. The day before my talk I was kind of thinking about life and what a life would be like without the Gospel. It would be so hard. What is there to hope for? I asked Bennett what he would hope for and he said his family. But even then there exists and end. People die and their legacy lives on maybe for a few generations and then it goes away there. There would be an end to all things. The world would eventually die off and life in general would cease to exist. What would be the point of living? Thank goodness it is not this way. We are here simply to become just like the being who created us and the hope that we can have is so bountiful. It's times that are so hard when I lay in my bed and go. "You know what, eventually everything will work out, everything will be okay" Imagine a life where every mistake we made would be remembered and regrets wouldn't go away. It absolutely kills me when people either leave this glorious gospel or when they don't accept it. They are throwing away Hope. One of the most amazing gifts that God gives to us that boost us and help us to keep fighting the fight against sin.
TOMORROW! Is ZTM. I love meetings like this. It's just kind of a boos for the week and it helps me keep going as a missionary. Lo and behold I am giving a lesson on what else......Hope.
Anyway I am super excited for this week and in fact the rest of my mission. Love each and every one of you God be with you till we meet again.
The Lord is My Shepherd.
Elder Riggs.
HELLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Everybody.
Wow last week marked the most stressful week of my mission in my entire mission life. And it hasn't quite ended yet tomorrow and the stress is gone. But we received a call that my comp will be in Frankfurt Oder for an entire week for his arabic class and I am currently chilling with the Neu B Elders and it's AWESOME!!!! I also got to chill with the super awesome Elder Mayer and my best friend Elder bennett for like four days last week. The Neu B elders are such great guys and I am super stoked to learn from them.
Last week Michael fell out.......And he didn't come to church. It was rough. Satan is really working his butt off on this guy so that means we need to work harder and bring him on back. In my personal study this morning I was reading Teaching Like the Savior and I decided that I really need to start calling Investigators and really letting them know more of my love for them. But I hope this is just a phase. Satan is smart but Jesus is smarter.
Yestarday was an amazing day. In part of the stress of preparing for the week I still had to write a talk and so I decided to just do the talk about what my lesson was for District meeting about obedience. Well my talk was all ready to go and I was just about to give it when for some reason it just felt off. Like I wasn't supposed to give the talk I had prepared. I got up there and simply said. I wrote a talk but I'm not going to give it. So I didn't even opened my I pad and just started to talk about whatever came to mind. I know that I talk about hope a lot in my emails but that's what I talked about on Sunday. The day before my talk I was kind of thinking about life and what a life would be like without the Gospel. It would be so hard. What is there to hope for? I asked Bennett what he would hope for and he said his family. But even then there exists and end. People die and their legacy lives on maybe for a few generations and then it goes away there. There would be an end to all things. The world would eventually die off and life in general would cease to exist. What would be the point of living? Thank goodness it is not this way. We are here simply to become just like the being who created us and the hope that we can have is so bountiful. It's times that are so hard when I lay in my bed and go. "You know what, eventually everything will work out, everything will be okay" Imagine a life where every mistake we made would be remembered and regrets wouldn't go away. It absolutely kills me when people either leave this glorious gospel or when they don't accept it. They are throwing away Hope. One of the most amazing gifts that God gives to us that boost us and help us to keep fighting the fight against sin.
TOMORROW! Is ZTM. I love meetings like this. It's just kind of a boos for the week and it helps me keep going as a missionary. Lo and behold I am giving a lesson on what else......Hope.
Anyway I am super excited for this week and in fact the rest of my mission. Love each and every one of you God be with you till we meet again.
The Lord is My Shepherd.
Elder Riggs.
Walked, and walked and walked and walked - June 13, 2016
Liebe Freunde Liebe Familie.
Herroooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo Everybody. This week as usual was a busy awesome week. This program is beginning to light on foya. Elder Partridge and I are working as hard as we can so that when we come home we have the desire to go to bed as soon as possible. And I dont think Ive ever been more tired in my entire mission. Three weeks left of the transfer and I plan to make these count and leave my legacy here in the land of Hippies and woods. Eberswalde.
Miracle: We did a ton of walking this week. To raise the stakes a little my shoes are pretty much destroyed in the insides so walking in them feels like walking on rocks. We decided that we wanted to do a lot of less and inactive work here becase the missionaries before really didn't like this place so they kind of just gave up. It's time to make this place awesome again. Anyway our plan was to go visit two less actives that lived out in booney land. Wandlitz and Klosterfelde. There are pretty much no buses to take us places and I think in total that day we did about 6 hours of walking. In the blazing heat. Humid. Terrible shoes. Sticky sweat. No water. As we were walking to our next less active we were both praying in our hearts that someone would come and save the poor little Elders and literally like one minute later after my prayer I heard "ELDERS GET IN!!!!" I looked to the left and there was our angel. Tanya. One of the members saved us and drove us to our next appointment which was still like two miles away. Now that was cool but what was even more cool was hearing her part of the story on sunday for testimony meeting. She was driving home and was just about to get there when she felt like she needed to turn around and drive down this certain rode. Lo and behold we were somehow there at the exact time. That really made me think about how the spirit and prayer works together. It is key that we always have an open heart that invites the voice of the spirit to guide us. One day we may be called to save someone so to speak and if we are not ready, if we are not tuned into the spirit we could miss out on an amazing opportunity to first of all experience a miracle, and second of all to help our fellow brother or sister.
This week we unfortunately did not get to teach Michael. But we did help him try to find a cane for his mother so I enjoyed that very much. Being able to help our great friend Michael.
We did however do a lot of service. This week was exchanges so me and another Elder from Neu Brandenburg helped a member in her garden. He dug holes and I had the great job of cutting down trees with a saw. SO MUCH FUN!!!! And then we were fed which was a perfect cherry on top to a perfect day. Also, our friend Matthias bought some little baby ducks. SOOOOO we helped build a little duck pen/stable/cage/whatever they are called for ducks. ANNNDDDDDD his girlfriend Bianca (who we had heard hated the missionaries) came over and started talking to us....IN ENGLISH!!!!!!!! Man we are getting so many great blessings and now I really do not want to leave this place. Bianca really likes us now and hopefully one day her heart will be open to the spirit and she will take the decision to follow Jesus and his Gospel.
We have another insanely busy upcoming week. Exchanges again, I have to give a talk in sacrament meeting, more service, a lesson in district meeting that I still have to prepare, Micahel (YES!!!), Matthias and his little ducks, less active work, Lots of finding and any other spiritual leads we receive. I adore this work. Never want to leave Germany. And love each and every one of you.
Tciao.
The Lord is My Shepherd.
Herroooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo Everybody. This week as usual was a busy awesome week. This program is beginning to light on foya. Elder Partridge and I are working as hard as we can so that when we come home we have the desire to go to bed as soon as possible. And I dont think Ive ever been more tired in my entire mission. Three weeks left of the transfer and I plan to make these count and leave my legacy here in the land of Hippies and woods. Eberswalde.
Miracle: We did a ton of walking this week. To raise the stakes a little my shoes are pretty much destroyed in the insides so walking in them feels like walking on rocks. We decided that we wanted to do a lot of less and inactive work here becase the missionaries before really didn't like this place so they kind of just gave up. It's time to make this place awesome again. Anyway our plan was to go visit two less actives that lived out in booney land. Wandlitz and Klosterfelde. There are pretty much no buses to take us places and I think in total that day we did about 6 hours of walking. In the blazing heat. Humid. Terrible shoes. Sticky sweat. No water. As we were walking to our next less active we were both praying in our hearts that someone would come and save the poor little Elders and literally like one minute later after my prayer I heard "ELDERS GET IN!!!!" I looked to the left and there was our angel. Tanya. One of the members saved us and drove us to our next appointment which was still like two miles away. Now that was cool but what was even more cool was hearing her part of the story on sunday for testimony meeting. She was driving home and was just about to get there when she felt like she needed to turn around and drive down this certain rode. Lo and behold we were somehow there at the exact time. That really made me think about how the spirit and prayer works together. It is key that we always have an open heart that invites the voice of the spirit to guide us. One day we may be called to save someone so to speak and if we are not ready, if we are not tuned into the spirit we could miss out on an amazing opportunity to first of all experience a miracle, and second of all to help our fellow brother or sister.
This week we unfortunately did not get to teach Michael. But we did help him try to find a cane for his mother so I enjoyed that very much. Being able to help our great friend Michael.
We did however do a lot of service. This week was exchanges so me and another Elder from Neu Brandenburg helped a member in her garden. He dug holes and I had the great job of cutting down trees with a saw. SO MUCH FUN!!!! And then we were fed which was a perfect cherry on top to a perfect day. Also, our friend Matthias bought some little baby ducks. SOOOOO we helped build a little duck pen/stable/cage/whatever they are called for ducks. ANNNDDDDDD his girlfriend Bianca (who we had heard hated the missionaries) came over and started talking to us....IN ENGLISH!!!!!!!! Man we are getting so many great blessings and now I really do not want to leave this place. Bianca really likes us now and hopefully one day her heart will be open to the spirit and she will take the decision to follow Jesus and his Gospel.
We have another insanely busy upcoming week. Exchanges again, I have to give a talk in sacrament meeting, more service, a lesson in district meeting that I still have to prepare, Micahel (YES!!!), Matthias and his little ducks, less active work, Lots of finding and any other spiritual leads we receive. I adore this work. Never want to leave Germany. And love each and every one of you.
Tciao.
The Lord is My Shepherd.
Thursday, June 9, 2016
True Glory - June 6, 2016
Liebe Freunde Liebe Familie.
HELLOOOOOO!!!! Everybody. Again a great awesome spiritual fantastic missionary life week. First week of the transfer and I can already tell it's going to be an amazing transfer. Miracles will occur. Challenges will rise. But the work of the lord will continue on it's ever quickly progressing path. THIS ZONE IS AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Super hard. BUT AWSOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Okeedokey. Lets' Begin.
Yestarday we had the wonderful opportunity to have a District conference (Essentially a stake conference) but we all met together and watched this great session. It was a conference specifically for Western Europe and it's members. We heard great words of encouragement from some General Authorities and it really made me develop even a deeper love for the members here. I was born and raised in a place where every block there is a church building with at least three wards and each ward has at least one hundred members. The faith and testimonies that these members have are astounding. I have heard some of the best testimonies here from the members and that has really strengethened mine. One of the highlights of the meeting for me was when our District President got up and read this quote from Sir Francis Drake.
“There must be a beginning of any great matter, but the continuing unto the end until it be thoroughly finished yields the true glory.”
I thought about that. Every great cause has a beginning. For example this church started simply because a young boy had a question and look to what it's grown to. 15,634,199 members but the work is not yet done. There is still so much to do and I am so glad to be a part of it. What a fantastic gift that God has given us to have this life. I am a life lover and look for all of it's benefits and blessings but the thing that will have the most impact and depth is the end of this life when true glory comes living for eternity with our Heavenly Father.
In other news. On wedesday we taught Michael again. He has some questions about the gospel of Jesus Christ so we retaught that and focused mainly on repentance. It went very well and the spirit was definetly prominent in this lesson. I love giving my testimony on this subject. Repentance truly is an amazing force. The atonement is something that plays the biggest role in my life. It's hard to repent I'll be honest but just like the quote "The continuing unto the end until it be thoroughly finished yields the true glory." The hope that you see in an investigators eyes when you testify that the guilt and pain they have through sin can all be wiped away is a special experience that not many people have the opportunity of facing. Oh man I wish I could describe to you how it felt through this email but that would be impossible.
After our lesson Michael had asked me to give him a priesthood blessing. I didn't realize it then but I do now that must have took so much humility to ask for one. Michael isn't to the point when he can say the Gospel is true but he has faith that it is and asking me for a blessing was a direct result of his faith. I don't remember what I said during the blessing but I remember what he said. He felt as if all of the darkness and pain and burdens he was feeling in the moment had been lifted off of his shoulders and he felt so much joy. Well let the waterworks begin. After we had said goodbye they came. I tried sooooo hard to hold them in but thanks again to the Genes of the riggs family it's pretty much impossible to do that so yes I cried. I cried because I love this man so much and I feel the spirit and love in a new way I have never felt before. Feeling love is one thing. But showing love and receiving the love is indescribable.
Well those were the highlights or our week. I can't wait to see what this next transfer will yield. Sometimes as we work and talk to people it is so hard to see the benefits of what we do and that is where discouragment and trunkiness set in but it's in those beginnings where we know if we just keep going, if we push harder than we possibly can, true glory and peace is waiting for us at the end.
The Lord is My Shepherd.
HELLOOOOOO!!!! Everybody. Again a great awesome spiritual fantastic missionary life week. First week of the transfer and I can already tell it's going to be an amazing transfer. Miracles will occur. Challenges will rise. But the work of the lord will continue on it's ever quickly progressing path. THIS ZONE IS AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Super hard. BUT AWSOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Okeedokey. Lets' Begin.
Yestarday we had the wonderful opportunity to have a District conference (Essentially a stake conference) but we all met together and watched this great session. It was a conference specifically for Western Europe and it's members. We heard great words of encouragement from some General Authorities and it really made me develop even a deeper love for the members here. I was born and raised in a place where every block there is a church building with at least three wards and each ward has at least one hundred members. The faith and testimonies that these members have are astounding. I have heard some of the best testimonies here from the members and that has really strengethened mine. One of the highlights of the meeting for me was when our District President got up and read this quote from Sir Francis Drake.
“There must be a beginning of any great matter, but the continuing unto the end until it be thoroughly finished yields the true glory.”
I thought about that. Every great cause has a beginning. For example this church started simply because a young boy had a question and look to what it's grown to. 15,634,199 members but the work is not yet done. There is still so much to do and I am so glad to be a part of it. What a fantastic gift that God has given us to have this life. I am a life lover and look for all of it's benefits and blessings but the thing that will have the most impact and depth is the end of this life when true glory comes living for eternity with our Heavenly Father.
In other news. On wedesday we taught Michael again. He has some questions about the gospel of Jesus Christ so we retaught that and focused mainly on repentance. It went very well and the spirit was definetly prominent in this lesson. I love giving my testimony on this subject. Repentance truly is an amazing force. The atonement is something that plays the biggest role in my life. It's hard to repent I'll be honest but just like the quote "The continuing unto the end until it be thoroughly finished yields the true glory." The hope that you see in an investigators eyes when you testify that the guilt and pain they have through sin can all be wiped away is a special experience that not many people have the opportunity of facing. Oh man I wish I could describe to you how it felt through this email but that would be impossible.
After our lesson Michael had asked me to give him a priesthood blessing. I didn't realize it then but I do now that must have took so much humility to ask for one. Michael isn't to the point when he can say the Gospel is true but he has faith that it is and asking me for a blessing was a direct result of his faith. I don't remember what I said during the blessing but I remember what he said. He felt as if all of the darkness and pain and burdens he was feeling in the moment had been lifted off of his shoulders and he felt so much joy. Well let the waterworks begin. After we had said goodbye they came. I tried sooooo hard to hold them in but thanks again to the Genes of the riggs family it's pretty much impossible to do that so yes I cried. I cried because I love this man so much and I feel the spirit and love in a new way I have never felt before. Feeling love is one thing. But showing love and receiving the love is indescribable.
Well those were the highlights or our week. I can't wait to see what this next transfer will yield. Sometimes as we work and talk to people it is so hard to see the benefits of what we do and that is where discouragment and trunkiness set in but it's in those beginnings where we know if we just keep going, if we push harder than we possibly can, true glory and peace is waiting for us at the end.
The Lord is My Shepherd.
Tuesday, May 31, 2016
TRANSFERSSSSSSSS. - 5.30.2016
Liebe Freunde Liebe Familie
Hellooooo Everobody!!!!!!!!!!!! Holy Flippin cow we had an insanely busy week this week and it went by way to fast. But it was an amazing week. To start off we got our transfer calls.......We are both staying again for another transfer. This one is only five weeks because last one was a long seven weeks. In other news the reign of District Frau is back. My comp is the District Leader and that means I get to be district frau again!!!!!!! A.K.A best job in the whole mission. I am honestly very happy to stay another transfer again and Eberswalde is really starting to grow on me. The little tiny family like branch is so great and I love them so much. While we have very few investigators each one of them have a special place in my heart. Yes Eberswalde is full of hippies that walk the streets bare foot, yes, one street finding is really taking its toll on me, but I'm really starting to love it here.
Today for P day we get to go to the lovely, awesome, sick, dope, sweet, fantastic, wonderful, amazing, incredible, gorgeous, beautiful, mind boggling, the bees knees of the world, attractive, big, city of Berlin. We decided to go check out checkpoint Charlie and get our passports stamped. And we will probably visit the gorgeous Berliner dome.
On Thursday we got to do some service for our very good hippy friend. Matthias. He is currently working on a fence to keep those pesky teenagers from stealing his stuff so seeing as how it is a three man job it works perfectly. Something I've been trying to do is really make friendships stronger with our investigators. That's something he really wants is a closer bond to the missionaries. It's very difficult as the language barrier prevents me from expressing myself the way I want to but it took me a while to realize it's not what I say that's important but rather what they say. As long as I pay attention to what they are feeling and what they are expressing and actually find a way to take interest that is when friendships are won. I just need to give him the lime light.
Wednesday was a rather emotional roller coaster for us. We went with the one and only Bruder Schmidt to the court house to see if we could print off and post fliers for German, English, and our game night. It was a long process and we finally got the ok. Then we went over to a museum place to see if we could get permission to do a street display. The lady we talked to was a very nice sweet lady who I could tell was very very stressed. We walked in and she told us that she didn't have much time but we could email her. She hecticly searched for her card found it and apologized for being so stressed. Well, Bruder schmidt wasn't really empathetic towards the situation and he told her we are also very stressed and we work non stop. She um, started to cry and Elder Partridge and I tried to calm her down and say it was no problem and we will email her. We then pulled bruder schmidt aside and told him to try and be a little more understanding of the situations of other people. He got rather schmidty with us and began his rants. My comp under much pressure may have yelled back a little which caused even more drama. After a rather rough few hours when we could all be situated we taught Michael. He is such a sincere hearted man and he told bruder schmidt and us how much he appreciated us and bruder schmidt began to cry. Such a tender moment for all of us. We taught him and the lesson went amazing as usual. The next morning he called us to tell us how thankful he was for that evening. He also asked for a priesthood blessing that we will be giving to him this week.
On tuesday we had ZOKO. It was just what I needed. A good spiritual boost for the upcoming next transfer. My favorite lesson was given to Sister Fingerle. During the end what she had decided to do is write questions down and we would go in a room and give us a personal interview where we wrote down the answers to the questions she had written. I began answering the questions and writing them down and then I got to the last one. When was the last time you have felt love from your father in heaven? And do you feel it now? If I could tell you my most favorite feeling to feel in the world it would be love from my heavenly father. In most of my conversations with my great friend Elder Bennett they mostly revolve around the feeling and expression of love. I have felt extremely happy, and I have felt extremely angry and the power of these two combined do not compare with that of feeling the love of God. A quote from again Elder Bennett: "The love you have for people will do more for them, than any preach my gospel lesson." This quote is so true. While teaching is so so important love is what brings change to peoples lives. That's why God uses the emotion love to evoke a change in us. There are many things I still wish to change and sometimes I feel like I will never be at the point I want to be. Well, I know that God loves me and as long as I try I can't fail.
I have you all love. Thank you for your emails of encouragement. BYE!!!!! Tciao.
Elder Riggs.
The Lord is My shepherd.
Hellooooo Everobody!!!!!!!!!!!! Holy Flippin cow we had an insanely busy week this week and it went by way to fast. But it was an amazing week. To start off we got our transfer calls.......We are both staying again for another transfer. This one is only five weeks because last one was a long seven weeks. In other news the reign of District Frau is back. My comp is the District Leader and that means I get to be district frau again!!!!!!! A.K.A best job in the whole mission. I am honestly very happy to stay another transfer again and Eberswalde is really starting to grow on me. The little tiny family like branch is so great and I love them so much. While we have very few investigators each one of them have a special place in my heart. Yes Eberswalde is full of hippies that walk the streets bare foot, yes, one street finding is really taking its toll on me, but I'm really starting to love it here.
Today for P day we get to go to the lovely, awesome, sick, dope, sweet, fantastic, wonderful, amazing, incredible, gorgeous, beautiful, mind boggling, the bees knees of the world, attractive, big, city of Berlin. We decided to go check out checkpoint Charlie and get our passports stamped. And we will probably visit the gorgeous Berliner dome.
On Thursday we got to do some service for our very good hippy friend. Matthias. He is currently working on a fence to keep those pesky teenagers from stealing his stuff so seeing as how it is a three man job it works perfectly. Something I've been trying to do is really make friendships stronger with our investigators. That's something he really wants is a closer bond to the missionaries. It's very difficult as the language barrier prevents me from expressing myself the way I want to but it took me a while to realize it's not what I say that's important but rather what they say. As long as I pay attention to what they are feeling and what they are expressing and actually find a way to take interest that is when friendships are won. I just need to give him the lime light.
Wednesday was a rather emotional roller coaster for us. We went with the one and only Bruder Schmidt to the court house to see if we could print off and post fliers for German, English, and our game night. It was a long process and we finally got the ok. Then we went over to a museum place to see if we could get permission to do a street display. The lady we talked to was a very nice sweet lady who I could tell was very very stressed. We walked in and she told us that she didn't have much time but we could email her. She hecticly searched for her card found it and apologized for being so stressed. Well, Bruder schmidt wasn't really empathetic towards the situation and he told her we are also very stressed and we work non stop. She um, started to cry and Elder Partridge and I tried to calm her down and say it was no problem and we will email her. We then pulled bruder schmidt aside and told him to try and be a little more understanding of the situations of other people. He got rather schmidty with us and began his rants. My comp under much pressure may have yelled back a little which caused even more drama. After a rather rough few hours when we could all be situated we taught Michael. He is such a sincere hearted man and he told bruder schmidt and us how much he appreciated us and bruder schmidt began to cry. Such a tender moment for all of us. We taught him and the lesson went amazing as usual. The next morning he called us to tell us how thankful he was for that evening. He also asked for a priesthood blessing that we will be giving to him this week.
On tuesday we had ZOKO. It was just what I needed. A good spiritual boost for the upcoming next transfer. My favorite lesson was given to Sister Fingerle. During the end what she had decided to do is write questions down and we would go in a room and give us a personal interview where we wrote down the answers to the questions she had written. I began answering the questions and writing them down and then I got to the last one. When was the last time you have felt love from your father in heaven? And do you feel it now? If I could tell you my most favorite feeling to feel in the world it would be love from my heavenly father. In most of my conversations with my great friend Elder Bennett they mostly revolve around the feeling and expression of love. I have felt extremely happy, and I have felt extremely angry and the power of these two combined do not compare with that of feeling the love of God. A quote from again Elder Bennett: "The love you have for people will do more for them, than any preach my gospel lesson." This quote is so true. While teaching is so so important love is what brings change to peoples lives. That's why God uses the emotion love to evoke a change in us. There are many things I still wish to change and sometimes I feel like I will never be at the point I want to be. Well, I know that God loves me and as long as I try I can't fail.
I have you all love. Thank you for your emails of encouragement. BYE!!!!! Tciao.
Elder Riggs.
The Lord is My shepherd.
Slow week. But good week. - 5.23.2016
Liebe Freunde Liebe Familie
Hey everyone. So because we changed our P day it was rather a slow week last week. But this one is going to be insanely busy and insanely fast. Thank goodness because it's the last week of the transfer and I'm getting itchy for that transfer call. (Another word for itchy is anxious) But we had a good week nonetheless.
One of the things that abslolutely made our week was we had the opportunity to do some service. Man has it been a long time since I have worked with my hands. One of my absolutle favorite things about Germany is Germans most of the time have seperate gardens. They aren't a part of their house and they are beautiful. Each garden usually has a little garden house with tools and other assortment of things to work in their Garden. Every garden has some form of fruit trees and a little area to plant vegetables and they are just one of the most beautiful gardens I have ever seen. I mean the gardens I had back at home were awesome and they had great harvests but these just top the list. That being said we helped one of our investigators build a fence in his garden because some punk teenagers keep coming in to steal stuff. It took about three hours and after he was kind enough to buy us some bratwurst at a local imbiss. We were also offered this work to come and work at a members garden so we will be taking this opportunity no questions asks.
Also we again taught Michael. The lesson went really well and the spirit was very prominent in this one. He's starting to actually participate in class now on sundays. A man who didn't know anything about the nature of God or religion is coming to terms about who God is and what is our purpose here. I can't wait for the day of his baptism.
Well in other news tomorrow is our ZOKO and we get to hear from a member of the seventy. Very much looking forward to that and the spirit that I hope to feel.
Well because not much happened this week this email will be a little short. Next week there should be a lot however. I love each and every one of you and hope the best for each and every one of you.
Elder RIggs.
The Lord is my Shepherd.
Hey everyone. So because we changed our P day it was rather a slow week last week. But this one is going to be insanely busy and insanely fast. Thank goodness because it's the last week of the transfer and I'm getting itchy for that transfer call. (Another word for itchy is anxious) But we had a good week nonetheless.
One of the things that abslolutely made our week was we had the opportunity to do some service. Man has it been a long time since I have worked with my hands. One of my absolutle favorite things about Germany is Germans most of the time have seperate gardens. They aren't a part of their house and they are beautiful. Each garden usually has a little garden house with tools and other assortment of things to work in their Garden. Every garden has some form of fruit trees and a little area to plant vegetables and they are just one of the most beautiful gardens I have ever seen. I mean the gardens I had back at home were awesome and they had great harvests but these just top the list. That being said we helped one of our investigators build a fence in his garden because some punk teenagers keep coming in to steal stuff. It took about three hours and after he was kind enough to buy us some bratwurst at a local imbiss. We were also offered this work to come and work at a members garden so we will be taking this opportunity no questions asks.
Also we again taught Michael. The lesson went really well and the spirit was very prominent in this one. He's starting to actually participate in class now on sundays. A man who didn't know anything about the nature of God or religion is coming to terms about who God is and what is our purpose here. I can't wait for the day of his baptism.
Well in other news tomorrow is our ZOKO and we get to hear from a member of the seventy. Very much looking forward to that and the spirit that I hope to feel.
Well because not much happened this week this email will be a little short. Next week there should be a lot however. I love each and every one of you and hope the best for each and every one of you.
Elder RIggs.
The Lord is my Shepherd.
Sorry for the delay...... 5.17.2016
Liebe Freunde, Liebe Familie.
HELLOOOOOO!!!!! Everyone.
To start I apologize for not emailing yestarday. Because yestarday was a holidy and everything was practically closed we decided it would be best to change our P-Day so we could have more things to do instead of chill at the church and play ping pong. Unfortunetely because today is raining we will have to chill at the church and play ping pong anyway.
This week was sooooo good. We taught michael again!!!!! We could honestly have the worst week and every other day be super hard and discouraging but it's always when we teach him that it gives me the boost that I need to just keep going. We taught him the Law of Chastity and the Word of Wisdom. He understands everything perfectly and thinks everything just makes total sense. Before we started teaching he wanted to say a few words to us. First off he told us how grateful he is to be in contact with us and he feels so much happier ever since we have started teaching him. The week before that we invited him to baptism and he declined but he explained to us he wants to be ready for baptism. Once he knows it is true he will be baptized. He then said he understands that is such a holy ordinance that he wants to go into knowing he will never forsake this church or God. THIS IS AMAZING!!! When Elder Thomas and I first started teaching him he had said he doesn't understand why we need to baptized to follow christ and doesn't like the fact that it involves some "Ritual" or "Ceremonie" He now understands the sanctity and importanace of this saving ordinance. Oh man. The honestly and humility this man has is something that one day I hope I can replicate. Through our journey of teaching him I have learned so much from HIM.
On Thursday we had district meetin and I had the opportunity to give a lesson. I adore teaching so I was so happy when the district leader assigned me something. Basically he said anything from the book of mormon or bible or general confernce talks. Other than that I could teach any topic I wanted to as long as it applied to missionary work.
There was an article I read on LDS.org (Maybe you've already read it) But I loved this article. It was very well written and it really hit a place in my heart. It's called: Finding self worth in a selfie world. One of the strongest desires of the human spirit is a feeling of worth. A feeling of importance in something. During my high school years I recognized there were mistakes I made or things i did just so I could feel a part of something. Some people will do things such as change the style of clothing, or language, or interests to feel a part of something. Some even go as far to change their entire gender, or beliefs in a higher power. In reading this article I was asking myself this question. How is it that we can feel a sense of self worth to our Father in Heaven? How do we know we are important to him? As many of you know missions are far from easy and sometimes you can try your very best and work your hardest and through your labors no fruit comes so to say. Nothing Happens. I believe this applies not only to missionaries in the field but to those who are not in the field. Those that go through life and are enduring till the end. How do we have a sense of self worth to God? Some of us may say: I lack certain ablilities or talents. OR. I've made too many mistakes God doesn't love me anymore. First of all to those of us who may think that abilities or talents or impossible to achieve remember this. We are the children of a creater.....he expects us to create. Some words or wisdom from My last companion. (This is not word for word) But I was struggling and really wanted to have good german. Something he told me was what do you have to lose? You can have perfect german. You can have what you want as long as you are willing to work for achieve great things. It requires so much work and hard effort but if we truly want something we can reach it.
For those of us who feel abandoned or left alone maybe because of mistakes or other variables that play into life. God. Never. Abandons. In fact when we fall is when he tries his very best to help us the most. The saving power of the atonement is for everyone. God loves us so much that he sent someone to atone for our sins. Our savior Jesus Christ. Who knows what it's like when you try your best and it feels as if nothing comes out of it. The one who knows what it's like to feel alone in the dark with no hope in sight. Because of him. That right there is how I know I am important ot my father in heaven. His love is inmeasurable and he will always cheer us on in the race against sin. Keep going. I have been in dark places in my life where I felt like I wasn't important to anyone. Because of a simple prayer that I offered on my mission I have felt the most indescribable love I have ever felt. As long as I am trying my very best I am important. Like Jeoffry R. Holland said. God Gives credit for trying. That is what is so amazing about this gosepl.
Well I am eight months into my mission and I still have a long way to go and frankly I cannot wait for the changes in my life and the changes that I hope to bring in others. I love you all and hope the best for you.
Elder Riggs.
The Lord is My Shepherd.
HELLOOOOOO!!!!! Everyone.
To start I apologize for not emailing yestarday. Because yestarday was a holidy and everything was practically closed we decided it would be best to change our P-Day so we could have more things to do instead of chill at the church and play ping pong. Unfortunetely because today is raining we will have to chill at the church and play ping pong anyway.
This week was sooooo good. We taught michael again!!!!! We could honestly have the worst week and every other day be super hard and discouraging but it's always when we teach him that it gives me the boost that I need to just keep going. We taught him the Law of Chastity and the Word of Wisdom. He understands everything perfectly and thinks everything just makes total sense. Before we started teaching he wanted to say a few words to us. First off he told us how grateful he is to be in contact with us and he feels so much happier ever since we have started teaching him. The week before that we invited him to baptism and he declined but he explained to us he wants to be ready for baptism. Once he knows it is true he will be baptized. He then said he understands that is such a holy ordinance that he wants to go into knowing he will never forsake this church or God. THIS IS AMAZING!!! When Elder Thomas and I first started teaching him he had said he doesn't understand why we need to baptized to follow christ and doesn't like the fact that it involves some "Ritual" or "Ceremonie" He now understands the sanctity and importanace of this saving ordinance. Oh man. The honestly and humility this man has is something that one day I hope I can replicate. Through our journey of teaching him I have learned so much from HIM.
On Thursday we had district meetin and I had the opportunity to give a lesson. I adore teaching so I was so happy when the district leader assigned me something. Basically he said anything from the book of mormon or bible or general confernce talks. Other than that I could teach any topic I wanted to as long as it applied to missionary work.
There was an article I read on LDS.org (Maybe you've already read it) But I loved this article. It was very well written and it really hit a place in my heart. It's called: Finding self worth in a selfie world. One of the strongest desires of the human spirit is a feeling of worth. A feeling of importance in something. During my high school years I recognized there were mistakes I made or things i did just so I could feel a part of something. Some people will do things such as change the style of clothing, or language, or interests to feel a part of something. Some even go as far to change their entire gender, or beliefs in a higher power. In reading this article I was asking myself this question. How is it that we can feel a sense of self worth to our Father in Heaven? How do we know we are important to him? As many of you know missions are far from easy and sometimes you can try your very best and work your hardest and through your labors no fruit comes so to say. Nothing Happens. I believe this applies not only to missionaries in the field but to those who are not in the field. Those that go through life and are enduring till the end. How do we have a sense of self worth to God? Some of us may say: I lack certain ablilities or talents. OR. I've made too many mistakes God doesn't love me anymore. First of all to those of us who may think that abilities or talents or impossible to achieve remember this. We are the children of a creater.....he expects us to create. Some words or wisdom from My last companion. (This is not word for word) But I was struggling and really wanted to have good german. Something he told me was what do you have to lose? You can have perfect german. You can have what you want as long as you are willing to work for achieve great things. It requires so much work and hard effort but if we truly want something we can reach it.
For those of us who feel abandoned or left alone maybe because of mistakes or other variables that play into life. God. Never. Abandons. In fact when we fall is when he tries his very best to help us the most. The saving power of the atonement is for everyone. God loves us so much that he sent someone to atone for our sins. Our savior Jesus Christ. Who knows what it's like when you try your best and it feels as if nothing comes out of it. The one who knows what it's like to feel alone in the dark with no hope in sight. Because of him. That right there is how I know I am important ot my father in heaven. His love is inmeasurable and he will always cheer us on in the race against sin. Keep going. I have been in dark places in my life where I felt like I wasn't important to anyone. Because of a simple prayer that I offered on my mission I have felt the most indescribable love I have ever felt. As long as I am trying my very best I am important. Like Jeoffry R. Holland said. God Gives credit for trying. That is what is so amazing about this gosepl.
Well I am eight months into my mission and I still have a long way to go and frankly I cannot wait for the changes in my life and the changes that I hope to bring in others. I love you all and hope the best for you.
Elder Riggs.
The Lord is My Shepherd.
Happy Mother's Day - 5.9.2016
Liebe Freunde, Liebe Famlie
Helloooooo everyone. This week was another fantiastic week. Life of a missionary is the best job in the world. I will miss Germany. Luckily I still have about 16 months left but Germany is super awesome. I love it, I love the people (for the most part sometimes they can be a little difficult) but nontheless I am so glad to be here still.
I would just like to make a shotout to all of you wonderful Mothers out there who have raised us and made us the people we are today. Happy late mothers day to all mothers. You are amazing people who have a very heavy responsiblility. And no one other than you are capable of taking on this responsibility of raising us. Love you mom.
Today for P day we went to Berlin again. And of course I LOVED IT SO MUCH. I am so coming back here again and again. (If I have the money)
Wwe taught Michael this week again and invited him to baptism. Unfortunately he declined the offer but he's one of those people where I know he will make the decision eventually to get baptized. He just wants to make sure that what he is doing is right and he doens't want to do something that he will not live. I know once he accepts this gospel he will be an amazing man of god.
I love you all and hope you have an amazing week.
Helloooooo everyone. This week was another fantiastic week. Life of a missionary is the best job in the world. I will miss Germany. Luckily I still have about 16 months left but Germany is super awesome. I love it, I love the people (for the most part sometimes they can be a little difficult) but nontheless I am so glad to be here still.
I would just like to make a shotout to all of you wonderful Mothers out there who have raised us and made us the people we are today. Happy late mothers day to all mothers. You are amazing people who have a very heavy responsiblility. And no one other than you are capable of taking on this responsibility of raising us. Love you mom.
Today for P day we went to Berlin again. And of course I LOVED IT SO MUCH. I am so coming back here again and again. (If I have the money)
Wwe taught Michael this week again and invited him to baptism. Unfortunately he declined the offer but he's one of those people where I know he will make the decision eventually to get baptized. He just wants to make sure that what he is doing is right and he doens't want to do something that he will not live. I know once he accepts this gospel he will be an amazing man of god.
I love you all and hope you have an amazing week.
5.9.2016
1. Yes gross. But it's a tradition to lick the brandenburger gate.
2. Restaurant. Don't worry the beer was alcohol free and really disgusting.
2. Restaurant. Don't worry the beer was alcohol free and really disgusting.
5.2.2016
Liebe Freunde, Liebe Familie
Hello EVERBODY
So this week was rather exciting.
Elder Partridge and I had the wonderful opportunity to go to my favorite city in the entire world. BERLIN!!!!!!!!!!!! Man berlin is the bomb and I will come back after my mission definetley. Our District Leader had dropped his phone in some water as he knocked over from his bed from waking up. Well he didn't realize it had fell in the water and so he woke up about ten minutes later.....and by then the phone was pretty much broken. SOOOOO he asked us to go to berlin to pick up a new phone from the office and of course I was like HECK YES!!!!!!
Today was maintenance P day.....lots of cleaning....no more needs to be said. But next week we will be going to Berlin AGAIN!!!!!! I will take tons of pictures and send them all to you.
On Thursday we have the wonderful opportunity to read the book of mormon from cover to cover in one day. Germany has this Holiday called Christi Himmelfahrt. It's basically just one giant day in which a bunch of males get together play music really loud on these wagon things and drink and drink and drink. I am excited to realize things and learn things that I may have never learned before. My testimony of the book of mormon has increased substantially and I am so grateful for those amazing book of mormon heroes who sacrificed so much just so that we can have a book. But to me it's more than just a book. Just like the front cover it is another testament of Jesus Christ. The realtionship I have with my heavenly father and savior have mainly been through this book and the power of prayer. It. Is. True. No doubt about it. No flickering hesitation I know 100 Percent the sacredness and effect The Book of Mormon has on others and my personal self.
In other news This week. In fact in two days we will be inviting Michael again to baptism. I have been praying and praying and praying that his heart will be able to feel the truth and that he will know that it is the right path. He's not the same person anymore and I have immense faith that the power of the Holy Ghost will give him that peace that he so craves for. God has blessed me to be able to take this journey with him and see the struggles and the successes that he has. I am also grateful that I can be a tool in God's hands to help fill the hole in his heart and it is being filled slowly but nonetheless he is receiving peace bit by bit.
One of my best friends gave an amazing lesson in District meeting last week. As many of you know I am tring to receive more hope in my life and am working on recognizing Miralces and tender mercies. There are of course times in which I am discoraged and it seems as if there is no hope. You look at the news and see things such as natural disasters, problems with wars, ISIS, death, disease, opinions of the world and hope seems to just evaporate. How can we see miracles amidst desolation and chaos? Something that I have recently discovered for myself answered that question. I have had many experiences in which I was either hurt seriously or had near death experiences. From my bike accident, to the time in yellowstone when I was caught in an eddie and in every one of these moments once they happened the first thing I thaught was not how am I gonna get out of this? It was the very person that I knew could help me no matter what. I thought "God, Help me, Save me, I need you" I believe in every natural disaster or situation in which it is either critical or near death, God is always present, as well as his angels. People come close to God when bad things happen. Yes, there is still death, there are still terrible things that happen but a world without challenges and problems means a world without progress and growth. In this Lesson my good friend, Elder Bennett, said that the one thing he grabs hold of when things turn south is the Atonement of Jesus Christ. We can either look at these things that happend and think "God, where are you?" OR we can look at them and go "God, I know you are there, and I know you can help me and others draw unto thee" . There have been many people I have talked to who have lost all hope of a better life. "If there is a god, why was there a war?" Many of them ask as they walk away. In reading and studying about the history of germany specifically DDR times and the war I can't imagine how in those dire situations people scream out where is the light? The light and gospel of Jesus Christ will always be there no matter what situation, no matter what trial, God is always there and hope will always prevail.
I am still trying to continue to spread this amazing special message of hope with the people of Germany and I get ecstactic when someone such as Michael finds that hope and grasps on to that concept. I love you all, wish you a great week and auf wiedersehen.
Elder Riggs
The Lord is My Shepherd
Hello EVERBODY
So this week was rather exciting.
Elder Partridge and I had the wonderful opportunity to go to my favorite city in the entire world. BERLIN!!!!!!!!!!!! Man berlin is the bomb and I will come back after my mission definetley. Our District Leader had dropped his phone in some water as he knocked over from his bed from waking up. Well he didn't realize it had fell in the water and so he woke up about ten minutes later.....and by then the phone was pretty much broken. SOOOOO he asked us to go to berlin to pick up a new phone from the office and of course I was like HECK YES!!!!!!
Today was maintenance P day.....lots of cleaning....no more needs to be said. But next week we will be going to Berlin AGAIN!!!!!! I will take tons of pictures and send them all to you.
On Thursday we have the wonderful opportunity to read the book of mormon from cover to cover in one day. Germany has this Holiday called Christi Himmelfahrt. It's basically just one giant day in which a bunch of males get together play music really loud on these wagon things and drink and drink and drink. I am excited to realize things and learn things that I may have never learned before. My testimony of the book of mormon has increased substantially and I am so grateful for those amazing book of mormon heroes who sacrificed so much just so that we can have a book. But to me it's more than just a book. Just like the front cover it is another testament of Jesus Christ. The realtionship I have with my heavenly father and savior have mainly been through this book and the power of prayer. It. Is. True. No doubt about it. No flickering hesitation I know 100 Percent the sacredness and effect The Book of Mormon has on others and my personal self.
In other news This week. In fact in two days we will be inviting Michael again to baptism. I have been praying and praying and praying that his heart will be able to feel the truth and that he will know that it is the right path. He's not the same person anymore and I have immense faith that the power of the Holy Ghost will give him that peace that he so craves for. God has blessed me to be able to take this journey with him and see the struggles and the successes that he has. I am also grateful that I can be a tool in God's hands to help fill the hole in his heart and it is being filled slowly but nonetheless he is receiving peace bit by bit.
One of my best friends gave an amazing lesson in District meeting last week. As many of you know I am tring to receive more hope in my life and am working on recognizing Miralces and tender mercies. There are of course times in which I am discoraged and it seems as if there is no hope. You look at the news and see things such as natural disasters, problems with wars, ISIS, death, disease, opinions of the world and hope seems to just evaporate. How can we see miracles amidst desolation and chaos? Something that I have recently discovered for myself answered that question. I have had many experiences in which I was either hurt seriously or had near death experiences. From my bike accident, to the time in yellowstone when I was caught in an eddie and in every one of these moments once they happened the first thing I thaught was not how am I gonna get out of this? It was the very person that I knew could help me no matter what. I thought "God, Help me, Save me, I need you" I believe in every natural disaster or situation in which it is either critical or near death, God is always present, as well as his angels. People come close to God when bad things happen. Yes, there is still death, there are still terrible things that happen but a world without challenges and problems means a world without progress and growth. In this Lesson my good friend, Elder Bennett, said that the one thing he grabs hold of when things turn south is the Atonement of Jesus Christ. We can either look at these things that happend and think "God, where are you?" OR we can look at them and go "God, I know you are there, and I know you can help me and others draw unto thee" . There have been many people I have talked to who have lost all hope of a better life. "If there is a god, why was there a war?" Many of them ask as they walk away. In reading and studying about the history of germany specifically DDR times and the war I can't imagine how in those dire situations people scream out where is the light? The light and gospel of Jesus Christ will always be there no matter what situation, no matter what trial, God is always there and hope will always prevail.
I am still trying to continue to spread this amazing special message of hope with the people of Germany and I get ecstactic when someone such as Michael finds that hope and grasps on to that concept. I love you all, wish you a great week and auf wiedersehen.
Elder Riggs
The Lord is My Shepherd
Monday, April 25, 2016
'Hope Never Fails' - 4.25.2016
Liebe Freunde, Liebe Familie
HELLOOOOO EVERYBODY!!!!!!!!!
We are already in the third week of the transfer and I feel like its been two days. Time is on hyperdrive on a mission and looking back it is amazing seeing the change that has taken place in my heart and soul. Thats exactly what god does. Takes raw material (Such as myself) and helps them become better people. Now, I am still FAR FAR from perfect and have many many weaknesses that I am still trying to overcome but I am grateful for the fact that I have an all powerful being on my side to help me with those.
Last week wasn't super busy but yestardy was the highlight. We did get the chance to meet with michael again on wednesday. He is understanding the gospel but still has some questions about small things such as why is there a ceremonie or ritual for baptism? Or Why is there an organisation to the church mainly why do we have apostles? We did our best to answer them but I think he is still a little confused.
This week is super full. We have made out many appointments and are going to be super busy and stressed but I LOVE being busy. Finding for six hours of the day isn't exactly the most thrilling experience so I am happy that we are meeting with loads of people. Mentor and his wife should have had the baby by now and I can't wait to meet the little guy.
SO YESTARDAY. WAS. AWESOME. First of all michael came to church and is now coming very regularly. After church we had a little brief discussion with him and he thanked us for what we do. He told us that something has touched his heart and its something he hadnt felt in a very long time...HOPE. The process of finding god and trying to draw near unto him is working he has found the very thing that will give him the kickstart to know what is true and that is the very thing that I am trying to develop even more and that is HOPE. Oh man I just wanted to wrap the guy up and hug him but that would be really strange and awkward so I had to try really hard not to. ALSO the guy who works at the doner shop decided to come yestarday as well. He has been coming off and on but because he is always super busy with work he can't come as often. But he came.....with nine of his friends. Him and his friends doubled the branch and we had about twenty people there. It was such a great moment being able to share a little bit of the gospel with them. We gave two of them a book of mormon because they all live together in a hotel but they basically all want to help people and serve people. Our doner friend is a great christian and looks for any opportunity to help and serve others. They will be coming in a coulple of weeks and cook tons of food for homeless people or old people out on the streets. Recently I was thinking about service and realized that sometimes the best kind of service is the service you give that only god recognizes. We are super stoked to start teaching him and can't wait to see the change take place in his life.
Love you all bye.
Elder Riggs
The Lord is My Shepherd.
HELLOOOOO EVERYBODY!!!!!!!!!
We are already in the third week of the transfer and I feel like its been two days. Time is on hyperdrive on a mission and looking back it is amazing seeing the change that has taken place in my heart and soul. Thats exactly what god does. Takes raw material (Such as myself) and helps them become better people. Now, I am still FAR FAR from perfect and have many many weaknesses that I am still trying to overcome but I am grateful for the fact that I have an all powerful being on my side to help me with those.
Last week wasn't super busy but yestardy was the highlight. We did get the chance to meet with michael again on wednesday. He is understanding the gospel but still has some questions about small things such as why is there a ceremonie or ritual for baptism? Or Why is there an organisation to the church mainly why do we have apostles? We did our best to answer them but I think he is still a little confused.
This week is super full. We have made out many appointments and are going to be super busy and stressed but I LOVE being busy. Finding for six hours of the day isn't exactly the most thrilling experience so I am happy that we are meeting with loads of people. Mentor and his wife should have had the baby by now and I can't wait to meet the little guy.
SO YESTARDAY. WAS. AWESOME. First of all michael came to church and is now coming very regularly. After church we had a little brief discussion with him and he thanked us for what we do. He told us that something has touched his heart and its something he hadnt felt in a very long time...HOPE. The process of finding god and trying to draw near unto him is working he has found the very thing that will give him the kickstart to know what is true and that is the very thing that I am trying to develop even more and that is HOPE. Oh man I just wanted to wrap the guy up and hug him but that would be really strange and awkward so I had to try really hard not to. ALSO the guy who works at the doner shop decided to come yestarday as well. He has been coming off and on but because he is always super busy with work he can't come as often. But he came.....with nine of his friends. Him and his friends doubled the branch and we had about twenty people there. It was such a great moment being able to share a little bit of the gospel with them. We gave two of them a book of mormon because they all live together in a hotel but they basically all want to help people and serve people. Our doner friend is a great christian and looks for any opportunity to help and serve others. They will be coming in a coulple of weeks and cook tons of food for homeless people or old people out on the streets. Recently I was thinking about service and realized that sometimes the best kind of service is the service you give that only god recognizes. We are super stoked to start teaching him and can't wait to see the change take place in his life.
Love you all bye.
Elder Riggs
The Lord is My Shepherd.
Monday, April 18, 2016
'Miracles' - 4-18-2016
Liebe Freunde Liebe Familie
Hello Everybody. This week went by insanely fast. It was transfer week so it was pretty dang hectic trying to get used to a new comp and showing him around the area. He is so fantastic and I am loving a lot of the ideas he is bringing into the area. He is from Provo Utah (Third comp in a row that comes from Provo) has been on his mission for a little over a year now, and is just an amazing man.
Work of the lord keeps pressing forward. Saving souls continues here in Belin Germany. The Greatest Mission of the World.
Elder Riggs
Friday, April 15, 2016
'Transfers. A last goodbye to Elder Thomas' - 4.11.2016
Liebe Freunde, Liebe Familie.
Hellooooo Everybody. Yestarday we received our transfer calls and received the news that I will be staying yet another transfer and Elder Thomas will be leaving and going to Magdeburg. We are both super excited for change and new companions. However I will miss this man so much. He is probably one of the most christlike people I have ever met. There are many things he has taught me and he has played a huge role and impact in my life. I have been humbled so many ways by him and he has helped get through many of my weaknesses. I will always remember the night laying in our beds when he told me I was a great missionary. I don't know if he knows the emotional impact that made on me but it is something I will never forget. Goodbye Elder Thomas.
April Fools
'Spiritual Renewal'- 4.4.2016
Liebe Freunde. Liebe Familie.
Hello Everyone. I hope your conference weekend was filled with the spirit and hope and love. I definetely felt the spirit of the lord this weekend and have found answers to the many questions that I have had. Conference is a very special thing to me and I have found a greater desire and love to hear the words of our prophet Thomas S Monson and his apostles. President Uchtdorfs talk definetly found a place in my heart. Dresden is actually a city in our mission and it is beautiful. I've only seen it once but the description that he said matches it perfectly.
It's been rather challenging to meet with people this week because either our appointments fall out or everyone is just gone. We did however see mentor on thursday. His wife is very very pregnant and is actually due next week so we're going to give them some time to get things settled in with the new baby and everything. They asked for some American names and I told them they should name him Parker. We'll see what happens.
Well that's all I have for today. Sorry it's short but i will write a much longer one next week. I love each and every single one of you.
The Lord is My Shepherd.
'He Is Risen' - 3.28.2016
Liebe Freunde, Liebe Familie.
Hello everybody. I hope you had an amazing Easter. We got lots of
chocolate. Yes. GERMAN CHOCOLATE!!!!!!! We also got this baked cake in
the shape of a lamb which I also believe is a German thing to do. So
we have another stash of goods to munch on.
As far as teaching goes a lot of our investigators have been so busy
recently and so we had a lot of fallen out appointments. We will be
teaching Michael this week again and I cannot wait. We did finally
make contact with matthias (we haven't been able to reach him for a
long time) of our other investigators and today he came to church and
actually recommend one of his friends as well. This week I have
discovered the amazing wonderful power of Sprach studium. (Language
study.) That's something I really haven't been good at is studying in
general but I have learned so much in one week than I have in a month
from not studying. The German language is still very difficult and I
am constantly being corrected by my comp (his German is incredible)
but it's a humbling experience that I need.
Today was so good. We are doing exchanges with the griefswald elders I
am going to be with one of my really good friends Elder Bennit. He and
I are pretty much the same people so we get along really well. But
what we did was go to an ostern fest in Chorin. It was pretty much
this giant medieval fair with games and people dressed up and giant
swords and tons of glorious and delicious food and music it was just a
great afternoon that I will never forget.
Yesterday was absolutely glorious. Naturally it was church but today
was special because we celebrated the resurrection of Jesus Christ. I
have had Easters before but this time it was the most spiritually
rewarding Easter I have had. Last week the branch president asked me
to give a talk about the resurrection. Well unfortunately because of
genetics and my emotional expressive tendencies I cried during the end
but it was one of my favorite topics to talk about. During my research
I have gained such a stronger testimony about the resurrection. I
think I know one of the reasons why we focus on the resurrection.
There are many accounts in the bible where Jesus warns his apostles of
his eminent death but he also warns them that there WOULD be a
resurrection and he would come again. However seems that every time he
said this they either didn't understand or didn't want to believe it.
Another example is when Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to the
tomb with spices and oils for their master. They had the opportunity
to see angels and one of them said he is not here (and the most
important) FOR HE IS RISEN JUST AS HE SAID. Well Mary whether it was
because of heartache or confusion told the apostles that someone took
the body. Imaging how happy and joyous hey would have been had they
understood the concept that death will be overcome. We chose and
shouted for joy at this plan and I believe it was because of our
savior who would overcome both spiritual and physical death. He lives
today and he is risen!!!!! To quote one of my favorite hymns "He
lives, he lives who once was dead" I hope each of you had a wonderful
Easter filled with the spirit (and candy.) Something that I would love
to do is hear testimonies or thoughts about the savior. I will write
them all in a book. So please send me whatever your thoughts feelings
or testimonies are of the savior. (Also if you have any really cool
pictures and want to be on my picture wall sen me those as well) I
love you all and God be with you till we meet again.
The Lord Is My Shepherd.
Hello everybody. I hope you had an amazing Easter. We got lots of
chocolate. Yes. GERMAN CHOCOLATE!!!!!!! We also got this baked cake in
the shape of a lamb which I also believe is a German thing to do. So
we have another stash of goods to munch on.
As far as teaching goes a lot of our investigators have been so busy
recently and so we had a lot of fallen out appointments. We will be
teaching Michael this week again and I cannot wait. We did finally
make contact with matthias (we haven't been able to reach him for a
long time) of our other investigators and today he came to church and
actually recommend one of his friends as well. This week I have
discovered the amazing wonderful power of Sprach studium. (Language
study.) That's something I really haven't been good at is studying in
general but I have learned so much in one week than I have in a month
from not studying. The German language is still very difficult and I
am constantly being corrected by my comp (his German is incredible)
but it's a humbling experience that I need.
Today was so good. We are doing exchanges with the griefswald elders I
am going to be with one of my really good friends Elder Bennit. He and
I are pretty much the same people so we get along really well. But
what we did was go to an ostern fest in Chorin. It was pretty much
this giant medieval fair with games and people dressed up and giant
swords and tons of glorious and delicious food and music it was just a
great afternoon that I will never forget.
Yesterday was absolutely glorious. Naturally it was church but today
was special because we celebrated the resurrection of Jesus Christ. I
have had Easters before but this time it was the most spiritually
rewarding Easter I have had. Last week the branch president asked me
to give a talk about the resurrection. Well unfortunately because of
genetics and my emotional expressive tendencies I cried during the end
but it was one of my favorite topics to talk about. During my research
I have gained such a stronger testimony about the resurrection. I
think I know one of the reasons why we focus on the resurrection.
There are many accounts in the bible where Jesus warns his apostles of
his eminent death but he also warns them that there WOULD be a
resurrection and he would come again. However seems that every time he
said this they either didn't understand or didn't want to believe it.
Another example is when Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to the
tomb with spices and oils for their master. They had the opportunity
to see angels and one of them said he is not here (and the most
important) FOR HE IS RISEN JUST AS HE SAID. Well Mary whether it was
because of heartache or confusion told the apostles that someone took
the body. Imaging how happy and joyous hey would have been had they
understood the concept that death will be overcome. We chose and
shouted for joy at this plan and I believe it was because of our
savior who would overcome both spiritual and physical death. He lives
today and he is risen!!!!! To quote one of my favorite hymns "He
lives, he lives who once was dead" I hope each of you had a wonderful
Easter filled with the spirit (and candy.) Something that I would love
to do is hear testimonies or thoughts about the savior. I will write
them all in a book. So please send me whatever your thoughts feelings
or testimonies are of the savior. (Also if you have any really cool
pictures and want to be on my picture wall sen me those as well) I
love you all and God be with you till we meet again.
The Lord Is My Shepherd.
'Elder Thomas is going crazy' - 3.21.2016
Liebe Freunde, Liebe Familie.
Hello everybody. I hope you all are doing well in the land of America. I am doing fantastic in the land of Deutsch. 'One week spirit streak' - 3.14.2016
Liebe Freunde Liebe Familie.
Wow what a absolutely fantastic week.
Anyway. That wasnt the best part of our week. Today to me was the best part of our week. We met with our friend Michael today even though it was P day. But we decided to sacrifice our time for someone searching for the truth which is far more important than playing ping pong or some other activity. We met with him at 1100 and finished the Plan of Salvation. And then the best part. There was a long moment of silence and all of my companions know (all two of them) that I abosoluetly adore silence. Silence is when the spirit really works to the best of its ability. I took the opportunity to tell our friend the role of his savior Jesus Christ in all of our lives. And then I waited and Elder Thomas waited. We sat there for about thirty seconds just taking in this feeling. Michael, what are you feeling at this moment? He didn't answer and tears started to come to his eyes. And then tears came to my eyes. Fifteen more seconds of just spiritual atmosphere. Michael, what do you think that feeling is? Now I wish I could say that he said, that was the spirit I want to be baptized right now but sometimes the gospel takes small steps in the role of a persons life. He honestly said he couldnt describe the feeling and he didn't know what it was.But thats okay. My dear friends it is amazing to play apart of a persons change in the gospel. It is probably one of the most lasting joys I have ever felt. What michael felt and I can testify because I felt it as well was THE spirit testifying of the truthfulness of this message. He is truly someone looking for happiness and he is finding it piece by piece bit by bit. It was the end of the lesson and we asked him if he would like to say the prayer. Without hesitation he said he would love to say it. Now keep in mind this is a man with no religious background whatsoever. This is someone who had no belief in god and is now beginning a relationship with his heavenly father. The prayer he gave was the most sincere heartfelt simple prayer I have heard. He prayed for the strength he needed through all of the many hardships that he has, he prayed for Elder Thomas and I, he prayed for truth and he meant it. He began to cry again during this humbling submissive prayer. I began to cry as well and I let the tears come. His prayer was finished and I thanked him for letting me hear something that may be very personal to him. Dear Friends and family this Easter Season is here. And with it comes the focus of Jesus Christ and his Resurrection. The video the church has made is a perfect example of the hope we have through Christ. It is through him that we can have new life. And through him is the way I have found my new life. Friends and family I end this email and join the world in a word that has new profound meaning in my life. HALLELUJAH!!!!!!!
'BEST P DAY EVAAAAAA!!' - 3.7.2016
Liebe Freunde, Liebe Familie
Hello everybody. Wow we had an absolutely fantastic week. We had the
opportunity to teach Michael on Tuesday. We taught him the first
lesson and he head a lot of questions. He is so ready for the gospel
and he wants to follow God. It's so amazing seeing him take these
steps and watching conversion at birth. As we taught the lesson and I
began telling the Joseph Smith story there was a special spirit in the
room and I knew he could feel it. It's one of the most rewarding
experiences when you look into an investigators eyes and you can see
the spirit moving and touching their hearts. Anyway we are meeting him
this week and teaching him the Plan of Salvation.
Today for P Day we went to Berlin with Elder Sterri and Elder Schmidt.
I have to say it was the best P Day I have had on my mission. Every
time I go I fall in love with the people and the city even more. The
history is incredible and I cannot imagine going through what they
went through. That is one of the hardest things on this mission. Some
people here are heartbroken and have been torn through the war and the
trials they experienced. But that also means it is wonderful to see
the power of the atonement at work. It can heal you. I testify that
this power works. I have seen it in my life and I have seen it used to
heal and nourish a broken soul.
As far as things in the district goes. Because of transfers it's been
rough adjusting. This zone is called Zions Camp for a reason. Neu
Brandenburg was white washed (two elders that have never served there)
and before the other missionaries left all of their investigators
tschussed them. (Decided to stop meeting with the missionaries) but
Elder Thomas and I made district goals and we know they will help our
district so much. We received a promise from President that if we have
twenty lessons a week we will see more success. That means any time we
teach doctrine, role plays, street contacting, lessons with members,
etc. that counts as a lesson. I can't wait to see it play out and have
high hopes for our district.
I don't remember if I mentioned this in my last couple of emails but
we have an investigator from Israel. His name is Alex. He can't speak
very good German or English but he is such a great guy. Elder Thomas
and I think he is Catholic and he believes in God and Jesus Christ. We
will have to move slow with him to make sure he understands our
message but that's why we have he ultimate translator...the spirit.
Yesterday we met with Abdu our Muslim friend. Abdu is very dedicated
to his faith and he lives it which I find absolutely fantastic.
Whatever faith you have I think it is very important that we live that
faith. Unfortunately he really likes to debate religion. We began
showing him the bible videos from the beginning. In one of them it
mentions the Holy Ghost and he asked what that was. We explained what
he is and what his role is but he didn't really understand what we
were saying. We then started to continue and he started to debate
about Mary and why she got married and how Jesus Shouldn't be referred
to as the son of God because we are all children of God. Well the
spirit left as contention does that and we didn't have a very good
lesson. But we will still be teaching him.
Spiritual Thought.
On Sunday we had a very good meeting. It was district conference and
the branches in all of the zone came to one church house to meet.
President and his counslers were there. Presidents first counsler gave
a very good talk. He talked about trials and how sometimes trials come
due to consequence of sin but a lot of times they just come. Now I've
asked this question many times in my life when they come. Why? Why me?
Why again? Friends and family these are the wrong questions to ask. In
his talk he said the question we should be asking is "Father, what is
it that you want me to learn?" Heavenly Father doesn't give us trials
but he does give us strength and he helps us change the way we were
and he helps us grow. Because the savior suffered any trial that we
have he knows exactly what we are feeling. He knows what it is like to
be utterly alone. "Father, why hast thou forsaken me?" He said. He
knows how every sickness, disease, disability, handicap, and emotional
pain feels. In order to truly become like our savior we need to go
through our own personal Atonement. The bitter cups we drink do not
even come close to the cup our brother drank. However when we finish
our cups and when we do it willingly we become closer to being like
Jesus Christ.
Well that's all I have for now. Thank you for your emails. I love you
all and God be With you till we meet again.
Elder Riggs
The Lord is My Shepherd!!
Hello everybody. Wow we had an absolutely fantastic week. We had the
opportunity to teach Michael on Tuesday. We taught him the first
lesson and he head a lot of questions. He is so ready for the gospel
and he wants to follow God. It's so amazing seeing him take these
steps and watching conversion at birth. As we taught the lesson and I
began telling the Joseph Smith story there was a special spirit in the
room and I knew he could feel it. It's one of the most rewarding
experiences when you look into an investigators eyes and you can see
the spirit moving and touching their hearts. Anyway we are meeting him
this week and teaching him the Plan of Salvation.
Today for P Day we went to Berlin with Elder Sterri and Elder Schmidt.
I have to say it was the best P Day I have had on my mission. Every
time I go I fall in love with the people and the city even more. The
history is incredible and I cannot imagine going through what they
went through. That is one of the hardest things on this mission. Some
people here are heartbroken and have been torn through the war and the
trials they experienced. But that also means it is wonderful to see
the power of the atonement at work. It can heal you. I testify that
this power works. I have seen it in my life and I have seen it used to
heal and nourish a broken soul.
As far as things in the district goes. Because of transfers it's been
rough adjusting. This zone is called Zions Camp for a reason. Neu
Brandenburg was white washed (two elders that have never served there)
and before the other missionaries left all of their investigators
tschussed them. (Decided to stop meeting with the missionaries) but
Elder Thomas and I made district goals and we know they will help our
district so much. We received a promise from President that if we have
twenty lessons a week we will see more success. That means any time we
teach doctrine, role plays, street contacting, lessons with members,
etc. that counts as a lesson. I can't wait to see it play out and have
high hopes for our district.
I don't remember if I mentioned this in my last couple of emails but
we have an investigator from Israel. His name is Alex. He can't speak
very good German or English but he is such a great guy. Elder Thomas
and I think he is Catholic and he believes in God and Jesus Christ. We
will have to move slow with him to make sure he understands our
message but that's why we have he ultimate translator...the spirit.
Yesterday we met with Abdu our Muslim friend. Abdu is very dedicated
to his faith and he lives it which I find absolutely fantastic.
Whatever faith you have I think it is very important that we live that
faith. Unfortunately he really likes to debate religion. We began
showing him the bible videos from the beginning. In one of them it
mentions the Holy Ghost and he asked what that was. We explained what
he is and what his role is but he didn't really understand what we
were saying. We then started to continue and he started to debate
about Mary and why she got married and how Jesus Shouldn't be referred
to as the son of God because we are all children of God. Well the
spirit left as contention does that and we didn't have a very good
lesson. But we will still be teaching him.
Spiritual Thought.
On Sunday we had a very good meeting. It was district conference and
the branches in all of the zone came to one church house to meet.
President and his counslers were there. Presidents first counsler gave
a very good talk. He talked about trials and how sometimes trials come
due to consequence of sin but a lot of times they just come. Now I've
asked this question many times in my life when they come. Why? Why me?
Why again? Friends and family these are the wrong questions to ask. In
his talk he said the question we should be asking is "Father, what is
it that you want me to learn?" Heavenly Father doesn't give us trials
but he does give us strength and he helps us change the way we were
and he helps us grow. Because the savior suffered any trial that we
have he knows exactly what we are feeling. He knows what it is like to
be utterly alone. "Father, why hast thou forsaken me?" He said. He
knows how every sickness, disease, disability, handicap, and emotional
pain feels. In order to truly become like our savior we need to go
through our own personal Atonement. The bitter cups we drink do not
even come close to the cup our brother drank. However when we finish
our cups and when we do it willingly we become closer to being like
Jesus Christ.
Well that's all I have for now. Thank you for your emails. I love you
all and God be With you till we meet again.
Elder Riggs
The Lord is My Shepherd!!
'The Gospel fills holes' - 2.29.2016
Liebe Freunde, liebe Familie.
Hey everybody. We had an absolutely fantastic week. As far as news
goes we got our transfer calls on Saturday and the verdict is...we are
both staying. Which was expected. Neu Brandenburg elders are both
leaving so that area is getting white washed. One of the griefswald
elders are leaving so we are going to have a very new district. New
changes, new goals, and we are very excited for them. Today for p day
we were going to the zoo but it's a little cold so right now I am
currently kicking elder Thomas's trash at ping pong.
On Tuesday we had exchanges with the zone leaders. They both came down
here so it was a very effective day in Eberswalde. Elder Gibbs and I
found an investigator and elder Thomas and Allen found one as well.
This week we have a pretty busy schedule.
As you already know I absolutely love the people here of Germany but
there's something that I want to develop that I haven't yet. It says
in Moroni 7:48. 48 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the
Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this
love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his
Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he
shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that
we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure.
Amen.
Christlike love is something that takes a lot of time but there is
something that I haven't done yet that I am going to do. It says pray
unto the father with ALL the energy of heart. I want to develop
charity. This is the most important love I think we can have. I want
to truly love as Christ loves.
On Sunday one of the people from our English class decided to come to
church. His name is Michael. (Pronounced meesh I el) he came to
sacrament and we were having fast and testimony meeting. After
sacrament and Sunday school elder Thomas and a member talked to him
while I was practicing the organ for next Sunday. He told Elder Thomas
his story. He told him that he has a hole in his heart that needs to
be filled. He said he is very sad and he doesn't feel like his family
loves him. That's what the gospel is for my friends. It fills every
empty soul with the love of God and here is nothing more powerful than
that. I am so excited to be a tool in gods hands and help fix an empty
soul. There is no better job than that. I've felt happy and joy before
but never before have I felt pure joy. The joy I get when i, through
the spirit help people find their way in the path to the plan of
happiness.
God be with you till we meet again!
The lord is my shepherd!
Elder Riggs
Hey everybody. We had an absolutely fantastic week. As far as news
goes we got our transfer calls on Saturday and the verdict is...we are
both staying. Which was expected. Neu Brandenburg elders are both
leaving so that area is getting white washed. One of the griefswald
elders are leaving so we are going to have a very new district. New
changes, new goals, and we are very excited for them. Today for p day
we were going to the zoo but it's a little cold so right now I am
currently kicking elder Thomas's trash at ping pong.
On Tuesday we had exchanges with the zone leaders. They both came down
here so it was a very effective day in Eberswalde. Elder Gibbs and I
found an investigator and elder Thomas and Allen found one as well.
This week we have a pretty busy schedule.
As you already know I absolutely love the people here of Germany but
there's something that I want to develop that I haven't yet. It says
in Moroni 7:48. 48 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the
Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this
love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his
Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he
shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that
we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure.
Amen.
Christlike love is something that takes a lot of time but there is
something that I haven't done yet that I am going to do. It says pray
unto the father with ALL the energy of heart. I want to develop
charity. This is the most important love I think we can have. I want
to truly love as Christ loves.
On Sunday one of the people from our English class decided to come to
church. His name is Michael. (Pronounced meesh I el) he came to
sacrament and we were having fast and testimony meeting. After
sacrament and Sunday school elder Thomas and a member talked to him
while I was practicing the organ for next Sunday. He told Elder Thomas
his story. He told him that he has a hole in his heart that needs to
be filled. He said he is very sad and he doesn't feel like his family
loves him. That's what the gospel is for my friends. It fills every
empty soul with the love of God and here is nothing more powerful than
that. I am so excited to be a tool in gods hands and help fix an empty
soul. There is no better job than that. I've felt happy and joy before
but never before have I felt pure joy. The joy I get when i, through
the spirit help people find their way in the path to the plan of
happiness.
God be with you till we meet again!
The lord is my shepherd!
Elder Riggs
'Signs of Spring'- 2.22.2016
Liebe Freunde, Liebe Familie.
Hello everybody. Things are finally getting warm here. The chill of winter had left and now it's only slightly chilly. It rains a lot but at least it's a lot warmer. Light Jackets, sometimes an umbrella but for now the heavy coats are away for another nine or ten months. 
'Persecution, Adversity, Trials, and still not giving in' - 2.15.2016
Liebe Freunde, Liebe Familie.
Hey everybody.
This week we also had the opportunity to meet with mario. He is a golden. We went over there and were going to teach him the Plan of Salvation but he read the whole pamphlet that we gave him and he absolutely loved it and understood everthing and had no questions at all. So we left with a spiritual thought about the plan of salvation and how we can get perfect bodies. Now Mario has parkinsons and so this was a very spiritual experience for all of us. That is such a hard trial that he has to go through and he has the knowledge that it will all be well in the end. Needless to say tears were shared the spirit was strongly felt and it gave Elder Thomas and I a huge boost to our day.
Well I deeply apologize this email is extremely short. Next week I will write a much grander one. But this is Elder Riggs Signing off.
The Lord is my Shepherd.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)