From the Field - 01/27/2015

This week has been really good.  We talked with a lot of people and we were able to get a lot ready for the coming week.

On Tuesday, we had our district meeting and we set some goals as a district.  We have been having trouble with finding people and contacting people, we decided that each companionship needs to contact at least 10 people a day and try to give out at least two Book of Mormons each week.  My companion is the district leader, so he calls everyone for about 5 minutes each night so he can track our progress.   After that, we left to go to an appointment with a less active [member].  We left early so that we could try to contact people along the way.   As we are waiting at the train stop on the street, Elder Heil couldn't find his cell phone.  He checked everywhere in his pockets and there was no luck.  We looked to our left and the train is coming up.   Well crap.   We ended up going back to the Church to go see if we left it there.   We look everywhere but could not find it.   Two elders were still there so we asked them to call it.  We hear it buzz and we keep looking.   All of the sudden, Elder Heil realizes that it was inside a pocket in his jacket that he never puts anything in.  We missed the train for nothing right? We felt like idiots.  We walked back to the station to wait for the train.  We take the train and then we get off a little bit too early on accident and we end up walking for a while.  We end up talking with this man named Herr (Mr.) Lucas.  We were walking down the sidewalk and I thought that we should talk with him.  I kinda ditched the idea as we got closer.  We pass and say good day, but then for whatever reason, both parties turn around and we start talking for a bit.  He was super interested.  He heard about us and about the church a little.  He was asking us a lot of questions.  He even asked us if we had a number so that he can stay in contact with us.  He asked for a Book of Mormon and tried to pay us for it. The Germans always want to pay you whenever you give them a book, even when you say it is free.  It was a really cool experience.

The appointment went really well with the less active member.  We had his home teacher with us too.  A home teacher is someone from the ward who will stop by about once a month and see how another member is doing and to talk with them and to share a spiritual thought.  The less active member, Bruder Lenz, told us to stop by sometime and meet with him.  We were excited for that and we set an appointment for next week.

Wednesday was pretty cool because we went to another less active who is super far away.  Bishop Hübner went with us that night.  We stop by and he gladly takes us in.  He lives with his family and is 20 years old.  He's had a rough life and is dealing with a lot here.  He wants us to keep coming by.  I was able to understand a good amount of German, which was nice.  When we were about to leave, it got kinda interesting.   He told us that he would like us to take our name tags off and to zip up our jackets all the way.  This is because the people that he lives with do some questionable things and he does not want them to think that there are agents or police people coming through their home.  I thought that was kinda cool.

On Thursday, I went on a Companion Exchange, or splits, with another missionary.  We did not have much to do that day, so we went by some people who either used to be investigators or who gave us their address and showed interest.  That night we talked with about 45-50 people and we handed out 4 Book of Mormons.  Four books in one day is way good!  We also were able to schedule 3 appointments for the next week. I am super stoked!

We swapped back the next day and all the district leaders had a meeting together in Dortmund.  All the missionaries who were not in the meeting went out contacting.  We walked in a group and sung primary songs while two people played the Ukulele and while two people went out and talked with people who were seemed to show interest.  It was freezing cold and my hands were on the brink of falling to the ground and shattering.  We had some good success.

On Saturday, there was nothing extraordinary.  It only snowed about 4-6 inches and my comp and I were super happy.  The flakes were huge and dense.  It 's about time that we got snow with the cold.  With no snow, the cold is boring and it sucks more.

This week really flew by and I see an exciting week coming my way.  As a district, we ended up talking to 283 people and we gave out 18 Book of Mormons.  It was a super good week!  I hope that all of you guy's weeks were great and I will write again next week.

Stay warm!
Elder Grow

From the Field - January 19th

This week has been really hard and full of excitement. At times, it was super great and it sucked really bad. Tons of different emotions and thoughts that I never thought I could experience in one week.

On Monday, I got home at about 9:30pm and realized that I left my SD card reader and 64GB SD card at the public internet place where we usually write emails. I was super mad at myself and super sad because I just lost the last 3 months of my life. 400 photos and videos. I said a prayer asking God for a miracle. I knew there was no way I would get it again, but I still asked. I prayed out loud for about 10 minutes pleading that it would still be there.  I still had doubt, but I was not upset or sad anymore.

The next day we stopped by some less active members and we were only able to get a hold of one out of the three that we stopped by.  We were able to schedule an appointment to come over and I was very excited!  We planned to meet with him in a couple days from now.  On our way home that night, I told my companion (Comp) that we should stop by the Internet Cafe and see if it [SD Card and Reader] is there. He came with me and said that he has never heard of a missionary finding their card reader after leaving it.  We went in and ask the guy if anyone turned it in.  He said, "This one?"  I was overjoyed and was super thankful for the stranger who turned it in.  My companion was shocked that we got it back.  I went home with a little extra bounce in my step that night. On our way home, a drunk lady called to us and asked us why we were dressed up so nice and what we do.  We talked for a bit as she swayed in the wind. We gave her a card after we talked and we told her that we would love to meet sometime if she wanted.  She was super grateful.  She came a little closer to me, grabbed the back of my head and pulled me in to kiss me on the cheek.  She just reeked of beer.   She then did the same thing to my comp, but he got the bonus slobber.

On Thursday, we went to the prison to contact a referral. We get there and there's a huge plot of land surrounded by a 25ft tall cement wall littered with cameras. It was about 3ft thick. We walk inside and told the guards what's up. They took us to the waiting room while they got a hold of the prisoner.  They told us that he did not want to meet with us. We guessed that someone else referred him, not himself. The prison was super cool and nothing like a US Prisons. US prisons just have fences everywhere with barbed wire. Here it was a fence or two with barbed wire, then the cement wall.  It was really cool!

On Sunday we had a primary program.  It was really good!  I got some videos of it.  All 4 of the Elders in the ward were asked to join in on one of the songs.  It was fun. We then had an appointment that night and it was way good.  We've been meeting with this lady ever since I got here. She is the one that plays the organ for the Evangelist Church. We talked about the Book of Mormon and we gave lots of testimony about it.  I did not talk much until the end.  When I did, I spoke straight from the heart.  I felt a burning inside that I have not felt so strongly in a long time.  My German flowed right out and it was really smooth. No stutters or rephrasing words.  After the appointment, my comp said that my grammar was almost 100% accurate when I spoke.  It was not me though.  I know that for a fact. I can honestly barely speak German. The Holy Ghost really helped me out and it was because of Him that I was able to get my point across. The lesson was very good and the Spirit was super strong at that appointment.

I don't know who is reading this right now, it might be just my parents or it might not.  But, to whoever is reading this, I want you to know that I know for a fact this The Church of Jesus Christ has truly been restored to the Earth. I know that the Gospel blesses lives, no matter how good you think your life is.  It will improve the quality of everything.  The Gospel is not easy either.  It takes a heck of a lot of work. I know that God is our Father and the Jesus is the Christ because of the Bible and the Book of Mormon.  I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and that it will help men come closer to God.  I don't know what else to say.  It might sounds weird, but it is true, and I know that.  I know that God knows that I know that this is His church, and I can't deny it.

I love you all and I hope you all have a wonderful week! Stay warm!

Elder Grow

German Prison

Went on a slit with an Elder in my District

Translated: "Here is no dog toilet"

Another Eventful Week

So this week was pretty...good...bad...odd? I don't know. It had some of each. On Tuesday, we had our district meeting.   A district has about 8 or so missionaries who come from 2 cities.  There are 4 Elders in my city and 2 Elders and 2 Sisters in Herna, the other city.  We did a gift exchange thing. It was more like a white Elephant gift exchange.  I brought a box of chocolates.  But hang on, it gets better.  We surgically cut open the bottom flaps of the box and pulled out the tray.   We then carefully cut the plastic that was around the tray.   We got the tray out and took out all the chocolate and replaced it with rocks, peanuts, lint, coins, sticks, and KinderEgg toys.   We cut a thin piece of cardboard and put it white side up on top of the tray so that they wouldn't see the stuff right away.   We put it back in the bag, taped it up, and for the back in the box we glued it.  Elder Heil bought a Döner and wrapped it up and made it look nice inside a gift bag with decorative paper coming out.  If you don't know what a Döner is, here's a link to look it up.  They are gross but good.   I also bought a toy gun and bow with arrows from a dollar store as a side gift.   While there, they were selling a Mankini.   It's a one piece swimsuit for dudes.  Try not to envision that too much.  It was super funny and I wanted to gift that instead.  It's probably best that I did not because one of the sisters got my gift.   At the end of the gift exchange, I said that I brought treats for everyone.   I then proceed to take out a bag of chocolate from my backpack.  It was the stuff from the chocolate box. The sister proceeded to open up her box because she was way confused. She discovered the rocks inside.

On Wednesday we had an appointment with a 28 year old Jewish girl from Israel.  She cancelled and we met the next day.   We had a member with us, Karlheinz.   He is way cool.   Beside the point, we meet the girl at the bus stop and walk back to the church.   She seemed cool and nice.   We then toured the church and then we start to talk to her about what we believe.  She disregards all of it and asks about Chastity.   Oh shoot!   I don't want to share details cause I don't want to rethink any of this.  Long story short, there were a lot of sketchy questions and we tried to end the lesson as soon as we could.  It was the worst.   Nothing bad happened, but I had the worst feeling inside.   I don't even know how to describe it.   It went well in the beginning, I could feel the spirit and understand and stuff.  Then something was said and I was like, "Oh Man, something bad was just said."   I suddenly was not able to understand anything.  I ended up getting an idea about what was going on.  It was way bad.

Anyway, to happier thoughts, we ate at a member's house on Saturday night.  We just got out of another eating appointment an hour before so I was stuffed already.   This family that we were at now, usually makes large portions of food.   Elder Heil ended up saying that I was really hungry all day and that I was excited to eat a lot.  I thought, "Oh no. I can't just say no because that would come off bad."  I ate two huge plates of rice and other toppings, along with half a liter of ice cream.   My companion knew what he was doing.  He was getting me used to eating when I can't eat anymore.   It sucked.   I was about to explode and could hardly stand up straight.

Sunday was really nice though!   We went to church and I taught the investigator class.  I was scared as heck.   The only thing I had to help me plan was a German Gospel Principles book.   We didn't have any English books to help me get an idea on how to teach this.  So, I had to learn what it said in German.  I did better than I though.  The German flowed nicely and the other 3 missionaries backed me up.  In sacrament meeting, the ward ended up singing the song "Families can be TogetherForever."   Even though it was all in German, I understood exactly what it said.  I got way homesick for about 5 minutes after that.  Then Bruder Holtz, who is very cool (they are all cool, but he is one of the coolest) asked me to come with him.  I followed and we went upstairs to a room.  I was up there with him and Bruder Ziegner.   Holtz needed a blessing and he wanted me to join in.  I was able to do the anointing part in English.   It was a really nice blessing.   I didn't understand what was said, but it was way good.   We then went to the Ziegner's house for lunch/dinner.   We get there and then got word that we were needed at the Hospital to visit a ward member who was there.   She needed a blessing too.   We went there with Fabian Ziegner, our Ward Mission Leader and a fresh Returned Missionary.   It too was way good.   I was able to do the anointing again. We got back and ate some great food and had a lot of fun talking.  It was in German for about 60%, but I was able to understand just about all of it.  It was really nice to feel like I could contribute to a conversation instead of just sitting there nodding like I normally do.  The Ziegner family is my favorite.   I want my family to be like theirs.  They're strong in the Gospel, super close with each other, fun, and just good people in general.

That's pretty much it for the week.  Some crazy wind and rain recently and lots of rejection.   Fun stuff!   I love you all and I will write again next week!

*Photos for the kids.  I thought they would laugh at this.*

Elder Grow