Guten Tag! Can you believe that December has arrived?! I hope that everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving dinner in the States and are now preparing for Weihnachten! We had another exciting week here in Magdeburg and I received big news this week!
Elder Sagmeister and I had a lesson with Frau Flemke this past Tuesday. She was referred to us by her husband. We took the Romneys along that morning. I thought that we taught a really powerful lesson about the Restoration. Unfortunately, she didn't take it as well as we had hoped. Much of the lesson she spent trying to convince us that the Bible is the only word of God, that God would not bring forth another record, etc. In the end she said that she will pray to know if the Book of Mormon is the word of God but she refused to take a Book of Mormon and read from it. She said she doesn't want it in her house until she knows that it really comes from God. How are you supposed to know that if you don't read it and then pray about it? Heavenly Father and his prophets have promised us that if we read the Book of Mormon and pray about it with real intent, having faith in Christ, we will receive an answer through the Holy Ghost. After the lesson the Romneys took us to lunch and then dropped us off at the other two elders' apartment. We went with the other two elders with all four of our bikes to a bike shop to get a quote on them. The mission office wanted to take an inventory of all the bikes in the mission to see how much it would cost to get them all fixed and in working condition. The second bike shop took them and said he would have the quote by the next day. Our appointment with the Aleksandroves fell through again Tuesday night. They have not been home everytime we have stopped by and their phone doesn't have any minutes left so they can't use it. They have been in Bremen a lot because she can find work there. They said they will probably be moving to Bremen. It is sad that they are probably leaving but I know that they need money for food so that they can live. We are going to keep in touch with them as much as possible and when/if they move, we will transfer their records.
Elder Sagmeister and I had a lesson with Frau Flemke this past Tuesday. She was referred to us by her husband. We took the Romneys along that morning. I thought that we taught a really powerful lesson about the Restoration. Unfortunately, she didn't take it as well as we had hoped. Much of the lesson she spent trying to convince us that the Bible is the only word of God, that God would not bring forth another record, etc. In the end she said that she will pray to know if the Book of Mormon is the word of God but she refused to take a Book of Mormon and read from it. She said she doesn't want it in her house until she knows that it really comes from God. How are you supposed to know that if you don't read it and then pray about it? Heavenly Father and his prophets have promised us that if we read the Book of Mormon and pray about it with real intent, having faith in Christ, we will receive an answer through the Holy Ghost. After the lesson the Romneys took us to lunch and then dropped us off at the other two elders' apartment. We went with the other two elders with all four of our bikes to a bike shop to get a quote on them. The mission office wanted to take an inventory of all the bikes in the mission to see how much it would cost to get them all fixed and in working condition. The second bike shop took them and said he would have the quote by the next day. Our appointment with the Aleksandroves fell through again Tuesday night. They have not been home everytime we have stopped by and their phone doesn't have any minutes left so they can't use it. They have been in Bremen a lot because she can find work there. They said they will probably be moving to Bremen. It is sad that they are probably leaving but I know that they need money for food so that they can live. We are going to keep in touch with them as much as possible and when/if they move, we will transfer their records.
The Zone leaders stayed the night at our appartment because they were coming to District Meeting on Wednesday morning. Elder Thorley and I did push ups together while reciting quotes from basic training/freshman year at the Air Force Academy. It was Elder Sagmeister's first time as District Leader here. He did a solid job running the meeting. The Romneys came as well to the meeting this week. We took district photos afterwards. Elder Sagmeister traded companions after lunch with Elder Glissmeyer so he went to Köthen and Elder Glissmeyer was here with me. Here are a couple of pictures of our district, including the senior couple, Bro. and Sis. Romney:
We went to our lesson with Dinh that evening. The Romneys came along. She fed us so many homemade spring rolls and they were the most delicious spring rolls I have ever eaten. We gave a lesson afterwards on the importance of prayer. The original plan was to teach the second lesson but the Spirit led the lesson to prayer and at the end, Frau Dinh said the closing prayer. I think it went pretty well. Here is a picture of the Dinh family, Elder Sagmeister, and the Romneys:
Elder Glissmeyer came in this last transfer so he is pretty new. He has a crazy story. Spring break 2012 he almost died when he fell off a 60 foot cliff at Lake Powell on the Utah/Arizona border. He cracked his skull, broke his tailbone and pelvis, and broke his left humorus. He is totally fine now but what an experience.
On Thursday afternoon we went to Galia Franco's home with the Romneys. She is the less-active member we found from Peru and she has a son and they live with her German boyfriend. She fed us a delicious Peruvian dish with this special Puruvian chili sauce. Afterwards we taught the plan of salvation. The lesson went really well and at the end we committed the boyfriend and son to be baptized on the 27th of December. Very exciting. The boyfriend did a really nice job saying the closing prayer. Thursday night the Romneys took the whole district out to a 'Thanksgiving' dinner. We ate schnitzel and went around the table saying everything that we are thankful for. Thursday night we had six elders in our apartment.
Friday morning Elder Sagmeister and Elder Haas went to Bernburg and Elder Pilling and I stayed here. We spent the day finding and contacting but had no luck. It was wicked cold and windy--bad combination to be street contacting. Friday we exchanged back our companions.
Saturday afternoon we had an activity at the church for members and investigators. The only members that came were the Egarters, the less-active family trying to fix up an old bahnhof (train station). We had Familie Dinh come and the other two Magdeburg elders brought two investigators. It turned out to be a huge success. We had ping pong and füßball. We had little games for the kids. I was able to reteach the first lesson to Frau Dinh. They had a really good experience. We are looking forward to having a similar activity very soon. Here is a picture of me with Elder Sagmeister, the Romneys, and the Egarters:
Transfer calls were Saturday night. Elder Sagmeister is leaving to go be a Zone leader in North Berlin. He will be living in Tiergarten, the nicest part of Berlin. Elder Stringham, Elder Morton's trainer, is going to East Berlin after being in Magdeburg for seven months. The big news for me is that I will be TRAINING A NEW MISSIONARY!! Holy cow, this just was my last week of being trained myself and now I will see things from the other side. I am excited for the opportunity and I know the area well, I just don't feel adequate to be a leader, especially since the mission president says that trainers are the most important leaders. I go to Berlin Thursday morning with Elder Morton, who is also training, to pick up our new trainees. Magdeburg will be the youngest area in mission. Wow! Here is my last picture with Sagmeister:
I will let you know who my trainee is next week! Our picture together will also be on the mission blog.
Love you all!
Elder Tanner Germann
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