I felt like we had a pretty slow work week and time seemed to drag a bit as well. We traded companions twice--once with the zone leaders and once with the Bremerhaven elders.
On Monday we had family home evening with Marcella, Sonny, Peter, Lars, and the sisters' investigator, Martin, at the church. We had a little picnic outside and then went inside to play a game and have a spiritual thought. Everyone had a really fun time.
We exchanged companions again with the zone leaders Tuesday morning. Elder Fitch and I went out to do street contacting before an appointment and got lost trying to take a shortcut through a cemetery. We were a little late to our appointment but it was good nonetheless. We discussed receiving personal revelation with Peter and Lars. Lars says he can't believe in God because he can't see him. We need him to realize that all he needs to do is accept that and say, "Okay, now I will try to develop some faith." That begins with reading, praying, and coming to church.
We exchanged back at Zone Training Meeting on Wednesday. Zone Training Meeting focused on the use of technology. It was really good to hear a recap of what we heard at mission conference. Technology is just a tool. It is not going to be something that does the work for us. We can also learn good habits online/good manners through practice on our mission.
Thursday I exchanged with Elder Somma. We went right to an appointment with an inactive member. We had a really good lesson about the importance of church attendance. Elder Somma teaches really well--you can tell that he really cares for the person when he speaks. The man said he knew he needed to be coming to church. We committed him to be there on Sunday, we even offered a wake up call/to pick him up. Sadly, on Sunday he turned off his phone and didn't show up. That afternoon we also went to a lunch appointment with a family in the ward. They are an older couple who are now the guardians of their grandson. They are very sweet. He is from Chile and she is from Bremen. It is a hard life for the son--his father lives a completely different life and the mother just isn't at the point where she can support him. They fed us a delicious Chilean dish.
Friday morning before exchanging back at lunch time Elder Somma and I taught Nanakofi about prayer. He is really faithful with his prayers. He prays everday. Friday evening we had an appointment with Grace. It went really well. She was really receptive to the commandments. She took her green tea and threw it in the trash can and then she was trying to figure out how she was going to make up for all of the tithing she hasn't paid in her life. Hahaha. Don't worry, we clarified that she doesn't have to make up for it. We committed her to living those commandments. We still have a few more to teach but we went ahead a pushed her baptismal date back. Due to her work schedule in the coming weeks, she is really not going to be able to meet during the week. Its looking like we are only going to have phone contact during the week until we can meet on the weekends.
We met with Panja Saturday morning. He referred one of his friends and committed to coming to church next week. We went to lunch with Peter and Marcella at a Mongolian buffet. Good food and we got to have a casual conversation about the church. I think times like those are really important to show our investigators that we are normal people. Sometimes just going over and teaching is very...contrived? I think family home evenings are great, too. Peter and Lars are coming again to family home evening tonight at a member's house. Saturday night we met with Michael. His roommate invited himself into the lesson. I think we taught the second lesson really well but sometimes I worry that he doesn't understand, like we are speaking a different English. He knows that church and faith and baptism are important but he needs to make it a priority. It just feels like he's not really all in. But we are always praying!
I am looking at this transfer as a fresh start. We are going to invigorate our area. We work with great people but it is time to get some new faces. You know what that means--FINDING! I love finding.
I wish everyone a great week!
Love,
Elder Tanner Germann
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