I was pretty disappointed with our performance this past week. We did not teach any lessons. That was mostly due to the fact that it was an exam week at the university and since almost our entire teaching pool is comprised of students, they were all busy studying and were unable to meet with us. Here is a picture of the University in Magdeburg:
No appointments means we were finding! On Tuesday some of the first people we talked to were these two guys that didn't speak German so I was super excited to be able to understand a full conversation. They totally agreed with what we were teaching them and we were able to go through the first lesson with them. Both wanted a Book of Mormon but we didn't have an English copy on us so we are trying to get a time to meet up with them. We saw them again on the street the other day and they invited us to some house party...we graciously declined. That afternoon we went to the university with our area book and tried to find all of the students that we had records for. It was actually a really good exercise because we found that several people had moved and were lost. Most were not home, probably studying, so we will have to catch them at a better time. While we were walking around campus, a man approached us and said that he sees us around everywhere and has been meaning to talk to us but never had the courage. He is a professor here, super nice guy named Robert. He said he has traveled a bit to the US and has met some Mormons and has been really impressed by them. He said he wanted to come to church. We were like, OKAY! He actually didn't show up yesterday so we'll have to get back with him.
On Wednesday we had the usual district meeting with the other missionaries in Magdeburg. Afterwards we all went to Curry 54. I was a little worried at first but it turned out to be really good. They served a brot and fries and they have all sorts of different sauces like BWW. I tried the second hottest they had and it wasn't even bad. They do hot sauce a little differently here I guess. Wednesday afternoon we rode a train an hour south to Barenburg were Elder Haas and Elder Pilling are serving. I tauched (traded companions) with Pilling. Elder Meeks and Pilling had another man say he wanted to come to church and that he already had a Book of Mormon at home. Here is a German gyro or Döner:
Friday was a good long day of contacting. We felt inspired to go over to the west side of our area, Ottersleben, about a 45 minute walk from our Wohnung (apartment). There, not too many people were on the streets so we went to these huge Wohnung complexes and just started klingling (doorbells). The first builing we went to was a DDR-era establishment that only had about half of the Wohnungs inhabited. Only two people really talked to us. One old man said thanks but that he is too old and does not want to change is life. Another lady was a Christian-converted Muslim that did not believe in the New Testament and was trying to Bible bash us. We just said thanks for your time and left. Then we went to a much nicer, newer building that had the phone klingles. So we just sat outside and went down the doorbell list. Peoples' reactions to you saying that you're missionaries and you want to talk about the Book of Mormon are priceless. Some people say, "No thanks", others say, "I don't believe in God" and then the rest just hang up on you halfway through our little greeting. No takers there. The guy that we had talk to in the first building and said that he didn't want to change his life was out walking his dog when we were leaving the second building and jokingly said, "Still no takers? I guess we're all going to hell." Hahaha. I just know that the more people we talk to, the better chance we give ourselves of finding people that Heavenly Father has prepared to hear our message. Friday night we had weekly planning. We already have three appointments lined up for this week and one for the week following with a less-active member who has never met with the missionaries before. Here are some Stolperstein, stones throughout Germany that commemorate victims of the Holocaust:
Yesterday at church was Elder Romney's first Sunday as branch president. He had some obvious nerves but he did alright. He asked Elder Meeks and I to speak in Sacrament Meeting. He told me to take five minutes and share my testimony. I think it went really well. I shared my testimony on the Restoration and said that I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet and that he translated the Book of Mormon and that we have a prophet today. It was exactly five minutes and for the most part I think my grammar was okay. Elder Meeks spoke on faith for a few minutes and then Elder Morton sang a song for the rest hymn. He plugged his ipod into the speaker system and sang Savior, Redeemer to a piano arrangement he had. It was in English but it definitely had the Spirit. The branch president who just got released, Bruder Steiger, then closed the meeting by talking about the Restoration. After church we went way out into the country with the Romneys to a members house to lunch. They fed us chili con carne. The Germans love chili. We had that fruity, yogurty thing for dessert like we had at the members house a couple weeks ago but I cannot remember the name of it. Afterwards, they took us back into town and we did our studies for the rest of the night.
I am really studying grammar hard right now. I want to get a good foundation. I can pick up like every fifth word when we're talking to someone on the street. I also studied 3 Nephi and 4 Nephi this week. I challenge everyone to read 3 Nephi 17 this week and see if you can get some new nuggets from it.
Love you all! Thanks for the prayers. I feel like success is coming soon. I promised the mission president 10 baptisms by the end of the year so it better! :)
Elder Germann
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