Hallo Everyone!

Hallo everyone, here I am again!

 

It was great to hear your story, Dad. I think you should be careful with your knee haha. How is the farm doing? It has been a long time since I have been there.

So, HAPPY BIRTHDAY KATE AND DAD! I hope they were fun, in some way or another. Strawberry pie sounds like the most delicious thing ón earth right now. I haven't eaten lunch yet, and we are at the church writing emails, because EVERYTHING is closed for one of their Catholic holidays. So there is really nothing to do. Depending on how much time we have, we may go play sports or something. With no one in particular, because the whole ward basically is at the temple this week. It will be a hard week to find members to teach with us, especially when we need a man there with us. We´re working on it.

 

So, the news! We have 4 baptismal dates now, set last week! P_____, Br_____, and S_____ and Be_____. All from Africa. All our lessons in English. But they are the ones we found, and they want to follow Jesus Christ. With S_____ and Be_____, we have to just teach out of the lesson pamphlets we have, we have them read and then we discuss things. It is working so far! We have really emphasized the blessing the gospel is to their families. They know that we can be tied to our families forever. And S_____ and Be_____ came to church yesterday, and we had a lesson the second hour with them, finishing the Plan of Salvation, and it was so great! We talked about the restoration, and how we will all receive perfected bodies, and I think S_____ loved that idea, because of his injuries. And he told us that he really wants to live with his family and with Heavenly Father in the celestial kingdom. So we asked him how he could do it, and he said he had to follow the gospel of Jesus Christ! It was such a great lesson, and the Spirit bore witness to me that God has a plan for us, and the way is given. We just have to follow it!

 

We read 2 Nephi 31 with Br_____, and talked about baptism more, and then set up a date to work towards. Hers is June 23rd. We are pushing to really meet more than once a week, because then the Spirit is in her life more and we can give her the encouragment she needs. With P_____ this week, we talked about repentance. We had him write down the things he wants to stop, and then he tore it up and threw it away, a sign that he left it behind. We got that idea from our zone training meeting with Elders Eaker and Orchard. They did a fantastic job preparing the meeting for the members of the Zone. At the end, they asked us to write down something that we wanted to just put on the altar and leave behind. So we did, and then we went and put it through the shredder. It actually felt very good, I felt lighter. Then they asked us to write down a new tool that we needed to pick up, something new to try out, and put it in our wallets. I got to spend some time with Elder Harris, and we discussed how the things we wrote down to shred were basically the same, and about how good it felt to know that those were just gone. It went well with something that Pres. Miles told us in his email last week. He said that there are 5 things that we as missionaries must sacrifice, leave on the altar. Those are: our disobedience, our personal limits, our comfort zones, our sins, and our homes. That was Tuesday, and then from Thursday to Sunday, we had 8 baptismal dates set in the Munich Zone! The Elders in Neuötting have one as well. We are very excited!

 

On Thursday we went to the Denggs' house and did a lot of garden work for Sis. Dengg, lots of digging and such. I got a pretty decent sunburn, but I took good care of it, lots of hydrating lotion (it really hurt, though) and I am much better now! But I like that kind of work. I just thought about how I hated having to go and weed at home, or do such things, but now I would love to do it. People change, eh? Then on Saturday, all of our appointments fell out, except one with S_____ and Be_____, and so we did lots of finding. And later in the evening we went to the wedding reception at the church for one of the sisters in the ward, who got married to Robert, another member of the ward from Uganda. They were really happy! And we got to talk to some people, too. There was really good food! And so much dessert! But we had to leave before 9 of course, and Br. Königbauer drove us home. He asked how the work was going (which I really don´t know how best to answer, whenever someone asks that haha) and we told him about all our friends from Africa. He asked why there were no Germans who had interest in the Gospel, and I didn't have an answer. We will find the ones who do, no doubt, but there are so many people, throughout the whole mission, too, who are not German who are the ones being baptized and such. Br. Königbauer said the immigrants are just humble already. So, we just have to keep working! It is sad that it is so, all of our friends who come to church need translation, because they don't speak much, if any, German. Things are definitely picking up, and we will find those who are ready. That is all I can say!

 

Um, yeah, things must be going okay at home! But I don't have much else to say today. The time is just running together, I will be back here in no time, writing about the next 7 days. The year mark wasn't anything special, although I did get some Dr. Pepper from Sis. Dengg. Wonder if Tyson did anything fun.

 

Well, we are busy, and when we are busy, there is no time to think about not being happy. I like it that way. I am still stretched in uncomfortable ways, but so it goes with the process of life and learning. That should all be on my altar of sacrifice anyway. A quote: "Je mehr du gibst, desto mehr Schätze wirst du in dir finden." So, the more you give, the more treasures you will find in yourself. That is what I am trying to do. And another from Bruce Lee: We can be shown the way, but we have to go it ourselves. (These are all from my calendar, ja?) Some of them are the wisdom of men, like the one that told me a few days ago that happiness is having all the things that you want. Yeah right! Haha. I just laugh.

 

I hope you have a good week, enjoy whatever weather you are having (mine changes from sunny and warm to pouring rain multiple times during the day, we can never tell) and that all goes well with finishing the schoolyear. Holy cow, when is graduation?

 

I love you, and I will talk to you next week! Smile, it´s contagious. ´:)

 

Elder Gibbons