I hope that all is well back in the States and that everyone is preparing for an exciting Thanksgiving week. Here I am in the middle of some fall foliage in Magdeburg!
Monday we had an abbreviated preparation day because we had a district preparation day on Wednesday following district meeting. We got our grocery shopping and emails done and then proceeded to do missionary work. We traded companions with other missionaries in the city an went finding. We were able to find a new investigator that afternoon--a really nice Indian girl studying at the University. As we move about the city, I see lots of contrasts like in the pictures here--a building that is half DDR (East German) era with graffiti on one side and modern on the other. And nearby, a church where it is said that Martin Luther preached. He did attend school here in Magdeburg in 1497:
Tuesday morning following study we updated the area book--that was much needed. The area book is so important--without a record of the work you do, there is no continuity to the work when missionaries are transferred. The next elders need to know the teaching pool and much success can be found through contacting old or potential investigators in the area book. We had an appointment with the Greek man, Margaritis, that we found last week. We couldn't find him in his building. His name is on one of the mailboxes so we know he lives there, but none of his neighbors knew him. It turned out though that one of our other referrals lived in that same building so we went there. She was super nice but wasn't really interested at first. Then she softened and agreed to meet with us this coming week. We are actually going over there tomorrow. Elder Sagmeister then had to go on a chocolate run. That is becoming a usual thing since he is practically addicted to chocolate. It hit me this week how ridiculous it is that one of the five aisles in every German grocery store is for exclusively chocolate. Afterwards, we went to an appointment with Dinh, the Vietnamese woman. The Romneys, the senior missionary couple, came along, too. It was a bit difficult at first to get the lesson going because Dinh wanted to show us the painting that she did all over her apartment. She was also a bit flustered because she forgot she told us that she would feed us. Finally we got the lesson going and it actually turned out well. She said she has been looking for a religion that could promise her eternity with her family. We extended an invitation to be baptized. Her little girls immediately said yes! She said that she needs to read the BoM. Cool! We are going back over there on Wednesday and she said she would feed us this time...for sure. After the lesson, the Romneys took us to dinner with the other two elders. We ride the bahns (trains) every day, they are very busy and full. I took this picture because it is so rare to be on one of these without any other riders:
Wednesday we had district meeting and then district preparation day. We went to the Magdeburg Zoo together. We basically had the place to ourselves. It was a pretty standard zoo except we got to feed the elephants and go in the lemur exhibit and run around with them. I traded companions that evening and worked with Elder Haas into Thursday.
We had branch missionary council Thursday morning. That afternoon we helped a woman from the branch move. She is having a baby and so she and her husband want more space. They moved just five minutes away from their old apartment into a really nice two story apartment. That night we traded companions back and Elder Sagmeister and I ran to our appointment with Galia, the Peruvian woman Elder Stringham and I met last week. We met the Romneys there. I led the lesson and it went really well. We found out that she is actually a member. She was baptized 12 years ago in Spain. Two months after her baptism, her first husband forbade her from going to church. She said she loved church though and all the ward activities they had in Spain. She said she's been looking for a Mormon church here in Germany. Her boyfriend is a German and brought her here with her son and they live together. The son is 9 years old and he is super prepared for the gospel. He refused to eat a meal or go to bed unless a prayer was said. The boyfriend is also super open to the gospel as well. We taught the first lesson and they loved it. They said that would come to church on Sunday. (They actually didn't so we'll have to figure out what happened there.) They invited us back over on Thursday for the second lesson and a Spanish meal!
Friday we had study as usual in the morning and then weekly planning. We have high goals for this coming week! Friday night we went to Br. Titigue's house for dinner. He fed us so much food and told us his life story. His dream is to go to one day go to the Salt Lake City temple. We shared a message about Thanksgiving. We have visited several times that family who bought the old train station to fix up and live in--here's a picture of that:
Saturday we went to get a quote for our bikes since they both need a tune up but apparently every bike shop in Germany is closed on Saturdays. We went on splits (exchanged companions) again. Elder Stringham and I had some really good conversations on the street but everyone declined our offer to learn more about the Book of Mormon. We went into a cafe for some hot chocolate and the girl that served us started to talk to us about the Church. She said she was an exchange student in high school in Las Vegas. Her host family was Mormon and took her to church and youth night every week. Every exchange student they hosted ended up joining the Church...except her. She was super nice and said maybe we'll see her at church sometime. She said she has been in church here a couple of times. Saturday night we had an appointment with the Aleksandroves. We had a member family show up too but the Aleksandroves weren't home. We called and they had totally forgoten about the appointment--they went to Bremen for the weekend. We need to confirm appointments. We also had our appointment with the Indian girl we found. She took a Book of Mormon and said she would read it but that she didn't want to meet with us again. We will be stopping by there again for sure to follow up. We found another new investigator, also a student, that night on the way home.
Yesterday in church we did not have any investigators which was a big disappointment. Our Gospel Principles class went well though. We had a less-active family there and a new convert. After church the Staigers had us over for dinner. They are such a nice family! They have us over every week practically since no one else from the branch signs up to feed us. They took us to choir afterwards. Choir is interesting. I can fake singing parts in English but its just embarrassing in German. Also, the choir is supposed to sing 21 different songs. We haven't practiced any song more than once yet in the three practices I have been to.
This week we have transfer calls and then transfers next week. I am really hoping I stay here! I love it here in Magdeburg. This is my last week of being a trainee too! How exciting!
I wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving!
Love,
Elder Tanner Germann
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