it was a good one. We had a pretty solid week here so if you didn't,
maybe reading about mine will make it better. I got to go to the Hans
Museum with the tickets we got for Christmas--it's beautiful and full of electronic
and hologram displays:
Tuesday morning we had zone training meeting in Kiel. Elder Peatross
and I gave a lesson on retaining new converts. We focused on using
family history work to do that. We got the other missionaries involved
and were able to share different experiences we've had with that. Here's
a picture of me and Elder Hein:
After the meeting we rode a train to Eutin for an appointment with the other man
that had referred himself a few weeks back. It fell through....
Getting back in touch with him is going to really hard because he lives
way up on the north side of our area, 35 minutes away by train. We
went by again on Thursday but I'm pretty sure he's out of town. His
mailbox is full. His crazy neighbor came out and talked our ear off
forever. The man was dead serious when he told us that the reincarnation
of Jesus is a male model in New York.
Our appointment with our old English teacher friend went fantastically
that evening. We read Alma 32 together about faith being like a seed.
After we had read and discussed it he said that what the Book of
Mormon says is true. We then invited him to try the experiment out for
himself. We invited him to live like a Mormon for four weeks and if at
the end he sees that the fruits are good, we invited him to be baptized
on the 6th of February. He accepted! But he didn't end up coming to church
on Sunday.
We had a super good lesson with Br Goltz on Thursday. We talked about
baptisms for the dead. We had a breakthrough: he's been under the
impression that he needs to have his family history done before his
baptism so that he can be baptized for himself and his ancestors all
at once. We explained that that's actually not how it happens and that
the baptisms in the temple are proxy baptisms and you can always go
back with more names of ancestors
Here are some pictures from around town including me in front of one of
the many gardens our neighbors have. Germans love to grow their own
produce and are proud of their gardens.
Friday, I got to bear strong testimony of Moroni's promise at the end
of the Book of Mormon. Kind of hard explaining that to someone raised
in India in a Hindu home but is atheist. It's really just a classic
if-then statement; a hypothesis. If we ask God (having a sincere
heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ), then we can know the
truth of all things.
Saturday was a good day. We had the bishop join us to visit
a 22 year old member that hasn't been to church since he was a kid. We
read and discussed Moroni's promise. He was asking all of the right
questions and I think he wants to find out if the Church is true. We also
got back in touch with our friend! The one that referred himself and
is supposed to be getting baptized on the 23rd! We thought we had lost
him this week but turns out he decided to basically abandon his old
life. He left his apartment, shaved his beard and got a job. He came
and sat in on our lesson with the Farsi speakers, a
baptism, and a tour that we gave Br Goltz of the family history center. The
lesson with the Farsi speakers was solid. We had to go over the
beginning of the plan of salvation again. I guess we really gotta go
slowly because of the translation and that this is a totally new world. All
five of them stayed for the baptism. Family History center tour went well.
Unfortunately no member could come and help but I would also like to know
what I'm doing in there. We gave Br Goltz the institute Book of
Mormon manual afterwards which got him excited out of his mind.
So last night we finally got to sit down and have a lesson
with our friend that we thought we lost this past week. There is a
stark contrast between now and when we met him. He looks happier, he
talks more. He said he knows that the Book of Mormon and prayer have
helped him and he knows that God is there. He has had some cool
experiences where he's said a prayer and then just opened the Book of
Mormon to a random page and he's found the guidance he needs right
there on the page. It's brought him out of his depression. But now
that he's out, he said that its like a battle in his mind--he knows
what's right and what's wrong, it's just hard to choose the right. Good
thing we decided to talk about the blessings of the Holy Ghost. I
really feel like I spoke with the Spirit tonight because I said
something, totally didn't plan it/know what I was going to say
beforehand (something about why we set goals, why we set baptismal
dates, washing away our sins, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost)
and as soon as I said it he said, "We said the 23rd, right? Lets
solidify that. I'm going to make it." I was blown away. My first
thought was, that was totally the Spirit because I didn't do that.
Love you!
Elder Tanner Germann
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