Liebe freunde, liebe Familie
First and foremost we got our transfer calls...and man we are very
surprised. So a little background to clear this up. Usually trainees
stay in their area for at LEAST four transfers. This was my third.
Elder Bodtcher has been here in Bremerhaven for seven and a half
months. To put that in perspective that is more than a quarter of his
mission. The verdict is this...I will be going to Eberswalde. Elder
Bodtcher will be staying for another 6 weeks and actually because he
is getting another companion he may be staying for an additional 6
weeks. Das heißt he will probably be in Bremerhaven for almost a year.
Yeah he's not too happy about that...but I am!!!
So to tell you a little bit about my next area.
1. The branch has only eight active members so with all the
missionaries there are twelve regular members that go to church.
2. For p day we get to go to Berlin!!!!
3. Form of transport...busses again.
4. It's in the east so that means delicious Döners. (They're not that
good in the west but are amazing in the east.)
That's really all that I know about my new area. I'm way excited for
this next transfer and something that I learned is that a transfer is
like a new mission all over again, new people, new companion, and a
new area.
This week elder Bodtcher and I received some amazing news. Oma had
finally given the day that she wants to get baptized. She has decided
because she is being "reborn" again that she will get baptized on her
birthday the 20th of March. Unfortunately I will not be there for that
which makes me kind of sad but the important thing that I hoped
happened is that through me the lord gave me what to say and I hope
that I played a roll in her life.
Well unfortunately time is limited and alas I must go. But I want you
to know that I love you all and I am loving my mission (a.k.a the best
mission on earth) but I rejoice in the happiness this gospel brings to
me and to my brothers and sisters here in Germany. I can't wait to
serve in Eberswalde and see what kind of surprises the lord has for me
in store there.
Elder Riggs
Friday, January 22, 2016
Tuesday, January 12, 2016
'Ready for change but living life to its fullest' - January 11, 2016
Liebe Freunde und Familie
Hi everyone.
Six days until transfers and elder Bodtcher and I cannot wait. I've
already set a countdown on my calendar and time seems to go by
eternally slow. I've noticed that when you expect something it will
come a lot slower than you want it to but when you are living and
enjoying life time moves by too quick. We shouldn't live life for when
but rather live life for now. In other words it's better to not rush
through life, God has given it to us and we only have a finite amount
of years to live it.
Last week we had the opportunity to give our friend Alex a blessing. I
am so grateful for the power and the blessing of the priesthood.
Priesthood power is real it was given to us by a loving Heavenly
Father for the Benicia of his children. As for Alex he is currently in
the hospital and will be getting an operation our prayers go out to
him.
Also in other news today Oma goes to the doctor today to receive her
ear plugs for baptism we don't know her date yet but she will tell us
as soon as she gets the okay from her doctor and the ear plugs work.
We will have a baptism very soon.
As far as last week went it was kind of a bummer. We expected at least
eight investigators to come to church and no one came so we were a
little bit sad about that but we will keep trying. This week since
this is probably elder Bodtchers last week we are going to try and
schedule as many appointments as possible and just work until we are
exhausted. On the 31st of January I have the opportunity to accompany
a musical number. I am very excited for this experience and I think
it's the first piece I have ever played (besides hymns) where someone
is singing along.
Well time flies and Elder Bodtcher and I have to go but in closing I
want to share a scripture with you.
Ether 12:6
And now, I, Moroni, would speak somewhat concerning these things; I
would show unto the world that faith is things which are hoped for and
not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no
witness until after the trial of your faith
These words give me comfort. I realize that the trials we have are a
testimony of the savior Jesus Christ. There are times that I have felt
abandoned by my father in heaven and I have shut him out in anger. But
from the wise words of Oma "The times when we feel like we don't want
to pray are the times when we need to pray." It is my testimony that
God gives us trials not because he wants to see us suffer but because
he wants to see us grow IF we rely on him and WHEN we rely on him our
testimony grows. Our faith grows. And our capacity to love grows
Hi everyone.
Six days until transfers and elder Bodtcher and I cannot wait. I've
already set a countdown on my calendar and time seems to go by
eternally slow. I've noticed that when you expect something it will
come a lot slower than you want it to but when you are living and
enjoying life time moves by too quick. We shouldn't live life for when
but rather live life for now. In other words it's better to not rush
through life, God has given it to us and we only have a finite amount
of years to live it.
Last week we had the opportunity to give our friend Alex a blessing. I
am so grateful for the power and the blessing of the priesthood.
Priesthood power is real it was given to us by a loving Heavenly
Father for the Benicia of his children. As for Alex he is currently in
the hospital and will be getting an operation our prayers go out to
him.
Also in other news today Oma goes to the doctor today to receive her
ear plugs for baptism we don't know her date yet but she will tell us
as soon as she gets the okay from her doctor and the ear plugs work.
We will have a baptism very soon.
As far as last week went it was kind of a bummer. We expected at least
eight investigators to come to church and no one came so we were a
little bit sad about that but we will keep trying. This week since
this is probably elder Bodtchers last week we are going to try and
schedule as many appointments as possible and just work until we are
exhausted. On the 31st of January I have the opportunity to accompany
a musical number. I am very excited for this experience and I think
it's the first piece I have ever played (besides hymns) where someone
is singing along.
Well time flies and Elder Bodtcher and I have to go but in closing I
want to share a scripture with you.
Ether 12:6
And now, I, Moroni, would speak somewhat concerning these things; I
would show unto the world that faith is things which are hoped for and
not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no
witness until after the trial of your faith
These words give me comfort. I realize that the trials we have are a
testimony of the savior Jesus Christ. There are times that I have felt
abandoned by my father in heaven and I have shut him out in anger. But
from the wise words of Oma "The times when we feel like we don't want
to pray are the times when we need to pray." It is my testimony that
God gives us trials not because he wants to see us suffer but because
he wants to see us grow IF we rely on him and WHEN we rely on him our
testimony grows. Our faith grows. And our capacity to love grows
'Like every other missionaries subjects ITS A NEW YEAR!!!' - January 4, 2016
Hi everybody
So first of all I need to apologize for not writing an email last
week. I was just about to start writing when the person picking us up
for family home evening came so we had to leave early but yeah my bad.
So since I forgot to writ last week I have a lot to say.
Christmas was absolutely fantastic. It's so cool they celebrate
Christmas here for three days so the 24th 25th and 26th so we had
three awesome appointments.
The first night we had an appointment with our war mission leader
bruder Rausch. We had phillipeno food and it was so good. And then we
watched Mormon tabernacle concerts for about 2 hours it was a great
night and we could feel a special spirit on Christmas Eve.
The second day (it was afternoon) we went to Oma Daniels house for a
traditional German Christmas lunch. Roht kohl,
duck,rabbit,knodels,potatoes,gravy ohhhh man it was heaven. After
lunch we played about an hour of phase ten I lost miserably but it was
a very fun night and we really love the Daniel family.
The third day we had Chinese food (Bremerhaven is really
multicultural) at the luos. And then yep you guessed it we played
games. I won the first one and it was a game we have never played
before. And then we played dominion and I met my match hardcore the
luos sons were amazing. But I got third place so that counts for
something. It was sad to leave but we knew that we had a nice break
and we needed to continue the work of the lord that's what's most
important. We didn't really get the chance to meet with many
investigators because of how busy the Christmas season is and
proselyting is not effective at all during Christmas time but we tried
our best and we gave out three book of Mormons.
New Years was not as fantastic but it was still a pretty decent day.
The night is when it got really bad. So in Germany they don't really
buy fireworks for the look...they buy it for the sound. And they are
super loud. It sounded like a war zone here. At midnight as soon as
the clock struck twelve it was insane. Firework after firework after
firework up until about 1:30 in the morning. Not to mention we are by
a harbor so all of the ships were honking their horns. So I didn't get
much sleep and the next morning we had a 5k run in Bremen with our
zone. That was fantastic. We ran our 5k and played ultimate football
for about two hours. The senior missionaries made us lunch. It was a
great day and a great start to a new year.
Spiritual thought.
Before the 5k elder Bodtcher and I decided we were going to do some
prep runs. Well let's just say we both hate mornings and it was super
cold so I think total we did about...1 run. Nonetheless we were very
unprepared for this run we were about to go on. The day of the run I
promised myself that I would run at least 80 percent of the run. We
started the run and the first kilometer was a breeze everyone was
running together we were all smiling enjoying our run but then I
noticed we had some stragglers who started to give up the race. We
kept running and it got harder and harder and as we kept going more
people fell behind and decided to walk the race instead of fun the
race. What was interesting to me though is that I noticed that some
missionaries who were extremely fit and prepped for the race started
to walk along side them and push them to keep going and keep running.
On the race of life as humans sometimes others struggle and they get
left behind. Now what we can do is we can finish the race as fast as
we possible can leaving the ones who fall behind...or we can walk
along side them and encourage them to run the race with us. Some are
more prepped for challenges and trials than others but what makes a
difference is that those who are prepped help those who need help. And
if we are lagging behind and no one is there to help encourage us we
can look towards our savior Jesus Christ who ran the race before us
and knows each turn, bump, obstacle, and challenge we are going
through. President Thomas. S. Monson said. "Remember that we do not
run alone in this great race of life; we are entitled to the help of
the Lord.” The lord will always be there side by side and if required
he will lift us and carry us all the way to the finish line
'HELLLLOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!' - 12-21-2015
Liebe Freunde liebe Familie
Hey everybody. It was a very good week this week. We had zone training
meeting in Oldenburg and elder Bodtcher and I gave a lesson on
obedience. One of the new things that I learned was that you don't
have to know why you should be obedient. A perfect example of this is
Adam. After they were shut out of the garden he started offering
sacrifices to the lord and an angel appear d to him and asked why he
was doing it. Adam replied I don't know but God commanded me so I am
going to do it. Last week we also did aus Tauch (exchanges) I went to
Oldenburg with elder cook. We have decided that the zone leaders and
us are mirrored companion ships elder cook is very much like me kind
of chill doesn't really care what other people think or how things
look. He loves lord of the rings, and jay z. Elder Peterson is
obsessed with Taylor swift, he's definitely aware of germs, and he
loves conspiracies. It's really weird. But I learned a lot in this
exchange. Elder cook taught me how to make finding more personal with
people and not just sound like a robot. It's super hard for me to be
personal in German. Also the people here are very blunt and don't mix
words so I'm trying to be a lot more bold in my finding and speaking
efforts. We had someone tell us that he thinks Americans aren't very
logical or they don't think things through. But we just shrug it off
(sort of) and keep going.
Yesterday we had a delicious meal of Grünkohl and Kartoffeln and a ton
of meat. It was sooooo yummy. We had this sausage called pinkel. It's
very interesting because you can't eat the skin. What you do is you
cut it length wise and you scrape the meat out of the sausage it
pretty much tastes like meatloaf with a little bit of German inside.
Spiritual thought
This week in ZTM we had a lesson from the zone leaders about Jesus
Christ and what we can do to give him. Elder Peterson said something I
found interesting. He said that no matter what we do or give we will
always be in debt. No matter what we do our savior gives more back. We
can give him our very best we can love him and serve him but the
blessings we receive in return are immense and bountiful. I will
always to my best to serve and love my brother Jesus Christ, because
he did something for me and all of us that I will never be able to
repay. I know he will come again and that he lives, he was crucified
and he atoned for our sins and on the third day he rose from the dead.
I glorify in my redeemer and am eternally grateful for him. I hope
that we can find something to give in return to our savior and I hope
we can remember him always not just during Christmas but every day of
our lives. In the name of Jesus Christ amen.
Hey everybody. It was a very good week this week. We had zone training
meeting in Oldenburg and elder Bodtcher and I gave a lesson on
obedience. One of the new things that I learned was that you don't
have to know why you should be obedient. A perfect example of this is
Adam. After they were shut out of the garden he started offering
sacrifices to the lord and an angel appear d to him and asked why he
was doing it. Adam replied I don't know but God commanded me so I am
going to do it. Last week we also did aus Tauch (exchanges) I went to
Oldenburg with elder cook. We have decided that the zone leaders and
us are mirrored companion ships elder cook is very much like me kind
of chill doesn't really care what other people think or how things
look. He loves lord of the rings, and jay z. Elder Peterson is
obsessed with Taylor swift, he's definitely aware of germs, and he
loves conspiracies. It's really weird. But I learned a lot in this
exchange. Elder cook taught me how to make finding more personal with
people and not just sound like a robot. It's super hard for me to be
personal in German. Also the people here are very blunt and don't mix
words so I'm trying to be a lot more bold in my finding and speaking
efforts. We had someone tell us that he thinks Americans aren't very
logical or they don't think things through. But we just shrug it off
(sort of) and keep going.
Yesterday we had a delicious meal of Grünkohl and Kartoffeln and a ton
of meat. It was sooooo yummy. We had this sausage called pinkel. It's
very interesting because you can't eat the skin. What you do is you
cut it length wise and you scrape the meat out of the sausage it
pretty much tastes like meatloaf with a little bit of German inside.
Spiritual thought
This week in ZTM we had a lesson from the zone leaders about Jesus
Christ and what we can do to give him. Elder Peterson said something I
found interesting. He said that no matter what we do or give we will
always be in debt. No matter what we do our savior gives more back. We
can give him our very best we can love him and serve him but the
blessings we receive in return are immense and bountiful. I will
always to my best to serve and love my brother Jesus Christ, because
he did something for me and all of us that I will never be able to
repay. I know he will come again and that he lives, he was crucified
and he atoned for our sins and on the third day he rose from the dead.
I glorify in my redeemer and am eternally grateful for him. I hope
that we can find something to give in return to our savior and I hope
we can remember him always not just during Christmas but every day of
our lives. In the name of Jesus Christ amen.
'First Miracle' - December 14, 2015
Liebe Freunde Liebe Familie.
Hi everybody. Merry Christmas well almost Merrry Christmas. Our last week has been insanely busy. I forgot if I told you in my last email but the sisters program is closed so now we take on all of their investigators. We have been stressed out of our minds but more happy than ever. It may seem strange but the more we work the happier we are.We invited a ton of people to our ward christmas party and we had a whole familiy show up. It was kind of a strange party but the family really enjoyed it and they said they would come to church this week. Today for P day we are going to go bowling with an investigator and a couple of other members. Hopefully I'll win. We have been meeting with this investigaors family a lot this week. The moms name is Angela and she is from the dominican republic. She speaks spanish but also perfect german she has been here for about 20 years or so.
Our first big Miracle happened with this family. The story goes as follows.
Elder Bodtcher and I were out proselyting one day and we were having no success. We knew where we were roughly but didn't know the exact location of where we were. Then we see Angela and her Husband right behind us. We walk up and we greet them and she says her house is literally like three houses down this street so she invites us in. We go in the house and I have this feeling that we needed to say a prayer together. Elder Bodtcher gave a beautiful prayer and after we looked up to see Angela crying. She told us that that morning she had prayed to God to send someone to her that would pray with her because she was going to the hospital today. And then I started to cry (Thanks Dad) it was an amazing miracle and it was something that our companionship needed and I am so thankful to be on a mission that I can help change peoples lives and I can help them be happy in their life. The gospel really does work and when we are obedient is when we are happy. We don't always need to know the reason why we should be obedient. When adam was shut out from the garden he offered sacrifices to God and an angel appeared to him and asked why he was doing this. Adams response, honestly I don't know, all I know is that I was asked to by God so I am doing it. The first principle to the gospel is obedience. I am so happy that I have had the gospel in my life, I am happy to share it with others, and I am happy to hear their sweet testimonies. I can't wait to see what my mission holds in store for me. There are lots of hardships and lots of trials but a mission was never meant to be easy. If it is then i need to work harder. I apologize this email is short I saved it til the last second but with that I wish you all again a very Merry Christmas.
"I have always thought of christmas time when it has come round as a good time. A kind forgiving charitable pleasant time. The only time I know of in the long calender of the year when men and women seem by one consent open their hearts freely to think of other people. And therefore though it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket I believe that it has done me good and will do me good and I say God Bless it!"
Hi everybody. Merry Christmas well almost Merrry Christmas. Our last week has been insanely busy. I forgot if I told you in my last email but the sisters program is closed so now we take on all of their investigators. We have been stressed out of our minds but more happy than ever. It may seem strange but the more we work the happier we are.We invited a ton of people to our ward christmas party and we had a whole familiy show up. It was kind of a strange party but the family really enjoyed it and they said they would come to church this week. Today for P day we are going to go bowling with an investigator and a couple of other members. Hopefully I'll win. We have been meeting with this investigaors family a lot this week. The moms name is Angela and she is from the dominican republic. She speaks spanish but also perfect german she has been here for about 20 years or so.
Our first big Miracle happened with this family. The story goes as follows.
Elder Bodtcher and I were out proselyting one day and we were having no success. We knew where we were roughly but didn't know the exact location of where we were. Then we see Angela and her Husband right behind us. We walk up and we greet them and she says her house is literally like three houses down this street so she invites us in. We go in the house and I have this feeling that we needed to say a prayer together. Elder Bodtcher gave a beautiful prayer and after we looked up to see Angela crying. She told us that that morning she had prayed to God to send someone to her that would pray with her because she was going to the hospital today. And then I started to cry (Thanks Dad) it was an amazing miracle and it was something that our companionship needed and I am so thankful to be on a mission that I can help change peoples lives and I can help them be happy in their life. The gospel really does work and when we are obedient is when we are happy. We don't always need to know the reason why we should be obedient. When adam was shut out from the garden he offered sacrifices to God and an angel appeared to him and asked why he was doing this. Adams response, honestly I don't know, all I know is that I was asked to by God so I am doing it. The first principle to the gospel is obedience. I am so happy that I have had the gospel in my life, I am happy to share it with others, and I am happy to hear their sweet testimonies. I can't wait to see what my mission holds in store for me. There are lots of hardships and lots of trials but a mission was never meant to be easy. If it is then i need to work harder. I apologize this email is short I saved it til the last second but with that I wish you all again a very Merry Christmas.
"I have always thought of christmas time when it has come round as a good time. A kind forgiving charitable pleasant time. The only time I know of in the long calender of the year when men and women seem by one consent open their hearts freely to think of other people. And therefore though it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket I believe that it has done me good and will do me good and I say God Bless it!"
'It's Christmas Time' - December 7, 2015
Liebe familie liebe Freunde
Hi everybody. Wow I cannot believe how fast this couple of months have
gone by. For some reason time is like on warpspeed or something.
Anyway this week has been an awesome week. We are trying to do so much
for the Christmas initiative. We have decided to invite as many people
as we can to the Christmas party and we are giving out wrapped copies
of the Book of Mormon to the members to give to their friends. And in
a side note we bought ugly Christmas sweaters. But that's not related.
This week we had a lesson with Oma tanst. It was really distracted but
we ended up talking about how sometimes she asks god where he is when
she is going through a hard time. I felt impressed that I should share
the story of Joseph smith in Liberty jail. The first words to section
121 are o god where art thou. Friends and family God lives and he
knows us and he loves us and will never leave us. We just need to have
patience in our trials. She took it very well, and we started talking
about why bad things happen to us. It was a very great lesson and her
testimony is so strong.
Today p day was kind of crazy. It started out with us waking up early
and seeing the sisters off. Oh yeah that's right the Bremerhaven
sisters program is closed now so it's just elder Bodtcher and I for
the moment. But it was sad to let them go. Then we went home did some
studies took a short nap and went shopping. Unfortunately we forgot
the keys in our apartment so our plan was to climb the scaffolding
along the back and get in through one of our open windows. That didn't
work out a lady got really mad at me and starting yelling at me in
German. So we finally decided to take the bus thirty minutes to ou GML
and get the spare. Then we drove another thirty minutes back and went
shopping. But the rest of our p day was good. We went to our
weinachtsmarkt and bought a lot of unhealthy food. And played some
chess elder Bodtcher beat me again. But all in all today was a very
good day today.
Spiritual thought.
My spiritual thought today is based off of one of my favorite
Christmas songs the little drummer boy. I love the story of this song.
It's about a boy who is going to go and see the birth of Jesus. In the
song it says that the boy had nothing to bring him but he had one
thing with him....his drum. So that's what he did he played his drum
for our savior and redeemer. And then my favorite line is the last
line in the song...
He Smiled At Me. Friends and family it is my prayer and my hope that
when we are all before our father in heaven and our older brother
Jesus Christ that he will smile down at all of us and welcome us in
with open arms. The question to ask is if we were there at Christi
birth what would we give him as a gift and what would we tell him? I
am so grateful for the opportunity I have to serve my brothers and
sisters in the Berlin Germany mission. I know that Jesus is the Christ
and he atoned for our sins. There is no such thing as the end...
Hi everybody. Wow I cannot believe how fast this couple of months have
gone by. For some reason time is like on warpspeed or something.
Anyway this week has been an awesome week. We are trying to do so much
for the Christmas initiative. We have decided to invite as many people
as we can to the Christmas party and we are giving out wrapped copies
of the Book of Mormon to the members to give to their friends. And in
a side note we bought ugly Christmas sweaters. But that's not related.
This week we had a lesson with Oma tanst. It was really distracted but
we ended up talking about how sometimes she asks god where he is when
she is going through a hard time. I felt impressed that I should share
the story of Joseph smith in Liberty jail. The first words to section
121 are o god where art thou. Friends and family God lives and he
knows us and he loves us and will never leave us. We just need to have
patience in our trials. She took it very well, and we started talking
about why bad things happen to us. It was a very great lesson and her
testimony is so strong.
Today p day was kind of crazy. It started out with us waking up early
and seeing the sisters off. Oh yeah that's right the Bremerhaven
sisters program is closed now so it's just elder Bodtcher and I for
the moment. But it was sad to let them go. Then we went home did some
studies took a short nap and went shopping. Unfortunately we forgot
the keys in our apartment so our plan was to climb the scaffolding
along the back and get in through one of our open windows. That didn't
work out a lady got really mad at me and starting yelling at me in
German. So we finally decided to take the bus thirty minutes to ou GML
and get the spare. Then we drove another thirty minutes back and went
shopping. But the rest of our p day was good. We went to our
weinachtsmarkt and bought a lot of unhealthy food. And played some
chess elder Bodtcher beat me again. But all in all today was a very
good day today.
Spiritual thought.
My spiritual thought today is based off of one of my favorite
Christmas songs the little drummer boy. I love the story of this song.
It's about a boy who is going to go and see the birth of Jesus. In the
song it says that the boy had nothing to bring him but he had one
thing with him....his drum. So that's what he did he played his drum
for our savior and redeemer. And then my favorite line is the last
line in the song...
He Smiled At Me. Friends and family it is my prayer and my hope that
when we are all before our father in heaven and our older brother
Jesus Christ that he will smile down at all of us and welcome us in
with open arms. The question to ask is if we were there at Christi
birth what would we give him as a gift and what would we tell him? I
am so grateful for the opportunity I have to serve my brothers and
sisters in the Berlin Germany mission. I know that Jesus is the Christ
and he atoned for our sins. There is no such thing as the end...
'Christmas/Weinachtsmarkt' - November 30, 2015
Liebe Freunde, und familie
Hi everybody. Wow what a crazy week this week. When I mean crazy I
mean it was fantastic. We found so many potential investigators. When
my companion and I were going to Bremen so he could do baptismal
interviews we met a lady who could obviously tell we were from
America. We had a very interesting discussion about religion and faith
and she expressed more interest in what our message is. We also helped
some people move from their apartment and they also expressed
interest. Then this week we will meet with smith the American again.
It is going to be a extremely busy and fast week. We had
(Thanksgiving) at Oma's on Saturday. It wasn't traditional
thanksgiving but nevertheless it was fantastic we had barbecue chicken
wings (I guess that's close to turkey) green bean casserole, mashed
potatoes, rolls, and a kinder Santa for desert. Then we went around
and discussed what we were all thankful for. It was a very tender
moment and very spiritual for all of us. She expressed how grateful
she was for this church and the happiness it has brought and she
expressed a love for missionaries and how grateful that they could
help her grandson with the challenges he has.
This week we also had ZOKO and we talked about the Christmas
initiative. For those of you who haven't watched the video watch it
it's pretty awesome. But I am way excited to do work around Christmas.
There is a special spirit during Christmas that makes people's hearts
open they are craving spirituality during Christmas and I think a
message about our savior is a perfect opportunity.
Today we went to our first weinachtsmarkt. It was SOOOOO
COOOOOOL!!!!!! So colorful and the smells are amazing, and it's just a
great time to just share the joy with everyone. I bought some roasted
almonds (in remembrance of my dad) and some licorice with crime
filling. It was delicious. I will send some pics in this email.
As the Christmas season is approaching and the hustle and bustle of
Christmas I think it's a great time to stop and think for a moment
about THE GIFT which is our redeemer and savior Jesus Christ.
Something I am trying to do is everyday is think about one thing about
Christ it can be small but that way I am almost remembering Christ
every day this season. Also think about what we can give him. Well I
love you all and wish you a fröhliche Weihnacht.
Tschüss.
Hi everybody. Wow what a crazy week this week. When I mean crazy I
mean it was fantastic. We found so many potential investigators. When
my companion and I were going to Bremen so he could do baptismal
interviews we met a lady who could obviously tell we were from
America. We had a very interesting discussion about religion and faith
and she expressed more interest in what our message is. We also helped
some people move from their apartment and they also expressed
interest. Then this week we will meet with smith the American again.
It is going to be a extremely busy and fast week. We had
(Thanksgiving) at Oma's on Saturday. It wasn't traditional
thanksgiving but nevertheless it was fantastic we had barbecue chicken
wings (I guess that's close to turkey) green bean casserole, mashed
potatoes, rolls, and a kinder Santa for desert. Then we went around
and discussed what we were all thankful for. It was a very tender
moment and very spiritual for all of us. She expressed how grateful
she was for this church and the happiness it has brought and she
expressed a love for missionaries and how grateful that they could
help her grandson with the challenges he has.
This week we also had ZOKO and we talked about the Christmas
initiative. For those of you who haven't watched the video watch it
it's pretty awesome. But I am way excited to do work around Christmas.
There is a special spirit during Christmas that makes people's hearts
open they are craving spirituality during Christmas and I think a
message about our savior is a perfect opportunity.
Today we went to our first weinachtsmarkt. It was SOOOOO
COOOOOOL!!!!!! So colorful and the smells are amazing, and it's just a
great time to just share the joy with everyone. I bought some roasted
almonds (in remembrance of my dad) and some licorice with crime
filling. It was delicious. I will send some pics in this email.
As the Christmas season is approaching and the hustle and bustle of
Christmas I think it's a great time to stop and think for a moment
about THE GIFT which is our redeemer and savior Jesus Christ.
Something I am trying to do is everyday is think about one thing about
Christ it can be small but that way I am almost remembering Christ
every day this season. Also think about what we can give him. Well I
love you all and wish you a fröhliche Weihnacht.
Tschüss.
'Winter Is Coming' - November 23, 2015
Hallo liebe Freunde liebe familie
Wow what a fast week. It is getting cold in Bremerhaven. Today was
about 3 degrees. Yesterday it snowed for the first time
(NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!) but the good news is that the weinaktsmarkt is
open so I will definetely do some shopping there. It smells amazing so
many yummy foods. Oh my gosh my English keeps getting worse the other
day I said a prayer in English for an activity and it sounded so
foreign to me I almost broke into German a couple of times.
Today marks the day where my ninja challenge is over and it was super
hard but I pushed through it with a lot of willpower.... Okay I will
admit there were some days where I ate some chocolate. But other than
that I did it!!!!!!
This week we had the chance to meet with an American guy named smith.
He's a very educated man and has had some quite amazing experiences he
used to be a lighten and worked for the army he studied theology at
Oxford and he is a history major. So he is super smart but a really
cool guy who has a lot of interest in the Book of Mormon mainly for
the history. We hope that we can grow his seed it has already been
sowed now it's up to the spirit and us to nourish it. He knows about
our church but has received false info from the Internet. So we gave
him some websites to go to to really find the truth. It was cool
because as we were explaining this book and our faith he said
something that really surprised us he told us that what we were
telling him didn't sound weird to him at all.
How true. The gospel isn't weird or complicated lets just simplify
things. We don't need to study the scriptures in order to find out
where Kolob is. Let's find simple principles and truths and build off
of those. The gospel was meant to be so simple a child could
understand it.
This week we are going to focus on finding new investigators. We only
have one German investigator and we need more.
Transfers are approaching rapidly and our prediction is that Elder
Bodtcher is leaving and the sister program is going to be closed.
Which means that I will be the Bremerhaven King and I will have to
coordinate for a while. Well not much happened this week but hopefully
we can have a phone amazing week full of miracles. Love you all.
Tchüs
Wow what a fast week. It is getting cold in Bremerhaven. Today was
about 3 degrees. Yesterday it snowed for the first time
(NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!) but the good news is that the weinaktsmarkt is
open so I will definetely do some shopping there. It smells amazing so
many yummy foods. Oh my gosh my English keeps getting worse the other
day I said a prayer in English for an activity and it sounded so
foreign to me I almost broke into German a couple of times.
Today marks the day where my ninja challenge is over and it was super
hard but I pushed through it with a lot of willpower.... Okay I will
admit there were some days where I ate some chocolate. But other than
that I did it!!!!!!
This week we had the chance to meet with an American guy named smith.
He's a very educated man and has had some quite amazing experiences he
used to be a lighten and worked for the army he studied theology at
Oxford and he is a history major. So he is super smart but a really
cool guy who has a lot of interest in the Book of Mormon mainly for
the history. We hope that we can grow his seed it has already been
sowed now it's up to the spirit and us to nourish it. He knows about
our church but has received false info from the Internet. So we gave
him some websites to go to to really find the truth. It was cool
because as we were explaining this book and our faith he said
something that really surprised us he told us that what we were
telling him didn't sound weird to him at all.
How true. The gospel isn't weird or complicated lets just simplify
things. We don't need to study the scriptures in order to find out
where Kolob is. Let's find simple principles and truths and build off
of those. The gospel was meant to be so simple a child could
understand it.
This week we are going to focus on finding new investigators. We only
have one German investigator and we need more.
Transfers are approaching rapidly and our prediction is that Elder
Bodtcher is leaving and the sister program is going to be closed.
Which means that I will be the Bremerhaven King and I will have to
coordinate for a while. Well not much happened this week but hopefully
we can have a phone amazing week full of miracles. Love you all.
Tchüs
'A Special Visitor' - November 17, 2015
Liebe Freunde liebe Familie
Hi everyone. This week has been a great week. First of all we finally
got to clean one of our members apartment it took about four hours
with five people cleaning it. So that was crazy, but after we were
done the spirit was so much stronger and now it's a place that the
spirit can dwell in. I thinks it's important that we realize that our
own homes can be a house of the lord where the spirit can dwell.
Last week elder Bodtcher and I gave a lesson I district meeting about
unity. It was such a good lesson. We pretended when we came in to be
extremely mad at each other about really stupid reasons. We wanted to
make sure that our district felt the tension between us two. Well it
definitely worked and they believed it and felt the tension. Well they
weren't too happy but out point was definitely made. We can definitely
not teach when we are not in unity and the spirit will definitely not
be there. We asked the sisters how they felt with the tension and they
said it made them extremely uncomfortable and even though it was a
role play they could not feel the spirit.
So I related to this to the family. When a couple husband and wife are
not in unity how do you think their kids feel or the opposite when
children argue the family is definitely not in tune with the spirit.
Contention is not of the lord. I think that there are always things to
prevent contention. The lord will always provide a way for anything.
Alright now for the surprise visitor. This week we had a surprise
phone conference from President Fingerele. In this conference he told
us a surprise visitor wanted to visit a few missionaries. Well
President said that wouldn't be fair so he invited the whole mission
to come and see this visitor. Well this visitor was Elder M. Russel
Ballard. It was so amazing and he really pumped up the missionaries.
He was also surprisingly very very funny. I think that we were
laughing sixty percent of the time. But I am so thankful for the
opportunity we had to listen to an apostle of the lord. His words were
filled with the spirit and I learned so much. Now is the time where we
need to constantly improving ourselves.
Missionary work will continue to be more challenging because we are
competing with the things of the world. Fortunately we are promised in
the scriptures that the weak things will break down the strong and
mighty ones. We have the strength of the lord with us and we will
break down the strong and mighty ones. Light always overcomes darkness
remember that at the darkest times light shines the brightest.
Also on a side note please keep the families of Paris in your prayers.
Thankfully we are safe and so are the missionaries in Paris. We are
very sad by the news and we continues to fast and pray for them.
Tomorrow I start the ninja challenge. Nothing but rice for a whole
week and I have to sleep on the floor. Hopefully I can lose some
weight that's what it's for so we will see how it goes.
Anyway this week we are going to be doing a ton of finding we need
more investigators. We met an American who seemed very interested and
accepted a Book of Mormon. Oma is still progressing and she is our
golden investigator. We are so excited that she has decided to get
baptized. Transfers are coming fast and my prediction is I will be the
new king of Bremerhaven. Elder Bodtcher will most likely be leaving he
has been here for four transfers. I need a new change honestly. But I
will definitely miss my first companion and trainer.
Well I miss you all and give you all of my love.
Tchüs
Hi everyone. This week has been a great week. First of all we finally
got to clean one of our members apartment it took about four hours
with five people cleaning it. So that was crazy, but after we were
done the spirit was so much stronger and now it's a place that the
spirit can dwell in. I thinks it's important that we realize that our
own homes can be a house of the lord where the spirit can dwell.
Last week elder Bodtcher and I gave a lesson I district meeting about
unity. It was such a good lesson. We pretended when we came in to be
extremely mad at each other about really stupid reasons. We wanted to
make sure that our district felt the tension between us two. Well it
definitely worked and they believed it and felt the tension. Well they
weren't too happy but out point was definitely made. We can definitely
not teach when we are not in unity and the spirit will definitely not
be there. We asked the sisters how they felt with the tension and they
said it made them extremely uncomfortable and even though it was a
role play they could not feel the spirit.
So I related to this to the family. When a couple husband and wife are
not in unity how do you think their kids feel or the opposite when
children argue the family is definitely not in tune with the spirit.
Contention is not of the lord. I think that there are always things to
prevent contention. The lord will always provide a way for anything.
Alright now for the surprise visitor. This week we had a surprise
phone conference from President Fingerele. In this conference he told
us a surprise visitor wanted to visit a few missionaries. Well
President said that wouldn't be fair so he invited the whole mission
to come and see this visitor. Well this visitor was Elder M. Russel
Ballard. It was so amazing and he really pumped up the missionaries.
He was also surprisingly very very funny. I think that we were
laughing sixty percent of the time. But I am so thankful for the
opportunity we had to listen to an apostle of the lord. His words were
filled with the spirit and I learned so much. Now is the time where we
need to constantly improving ourselves.
Missionary work will continue to be more challenging because we are
competing with the things of the world. Fortunately we are promised in
the scriptures that the weak things will break down the strong and
mighty ones. We have the strength of the lord with us and we will
break down the strong and mighty ones. Light always overcomes darkness
remember that at the darkest times light shines the brightest.
Also on a side note please keep the families of Paris in your prayers.
Thankfully we are safe and so are the missionaries in Paris. We are
very sad by the news and we continues to fast and pray for them.
Tomorrow I start the ninja challenge. Nothing but rice for a whole
week and I have to sleep on the floor. Hopefully I can lose some
weight that's what it's for so we will see how it goes.
Anyway this week we are going to be doing a ton of finding we need
more investigators. We met an American who seemed very interested and
accepted a Book of Mormon. Oma is still progressing and she is our
golden investigator. We are so excited that she has decided to get
baptized. Transfers are coming fast and my prediction is I will be the
new king of Bremerhaven. Elder Bodtcher will most likely be leaving he
has been here for four transfers. I need a new change honestly. But I
will definitely miss my first companion and trainer.
Well I miss you all and give you all of my love.
Tchüs
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