Michael was baptized!

Hey y'all!

We baptized Michael!  I had the honor of actually performing the
baptism and that was a special experience. 

Michael was so excited.  You could see as we got closer to the baptism, his excitement grew and
grew.  He told me why he knew that this was the true church.  He said
that as a little boy, he had a dream one night that someone came to
him and took him to the top of a mountain where a church was.
Throughout his life he has had this dream regularly, once a month or
so.  He has been searching for this church his whole life.  He has
visited several churches but his heart was never there.  He said that
one day he met the missionaries and they invited him to church.
Finally he came and he saw the chapel in Bremen--it was the very
church he has been dreaming about his entire life.  He has never had
that dream again since coming to our church--he found the true church he has
been looking for.  The Spirit works in many different ways, often
through dreams!  Michael got up in sacrament meeting yesterday and
told this story--the members loved it.  Here's a picture of me, Michael, and my companion Elder Despain:

We also found a Russian lady this week who has been praying to find the
truth.  She came to church yesterday and told us that she was up all
night reading the Book of Mormon--she loved it and the church
services.  She said at the end that she has finally "found her
church."  What a miracle!  We plan on committing her to baptism this
week.

We had zone conference this week and the Area Seventy came. He gave
really good counsel on working with members. I have leadership
training this week in Hamburg. We have a busy week ahead--trying to
avoid the post baptism slump.

Stay sweet :)

Elder Tanner Germann
p.s.  Sometimes it's impossible not to think of home and family...hey, sis!!

Preparing for a baptism

Hello family and friends. I hope you all are doing well!  Thought I would share a beautiful Bremen vista from my new iPad!

We spent this week doing our best to get our investigator Michael
ready for baptism this coming Sunday. He works a lot and there is
definitely a language barrier so we have been doing our best to meet
as often as possible and keep things really simple.

On Tuesday we took a member to an appointment but sadly it fell through.
The address was good, they just didn't answer the door/weren't home.
Kind of sad but we had a backup plan so that we didn't waste the
member's time. We went by less actives in the area--one of which was
one of the member's home teaching families. Our ward mission leader couldn't
make it to the church for our regular meeting Tuesday night so we
FaceTimed each other. Cool!

District meeting began with a lesson on preparing people for baptism
by Elder Pilling. I then took the rest of the time to lead a
discussion on the safeguards for using technology/how have the
missionaries used the iPad's so far in teaching.

Thursday morning we went over to a member's house to do service. They
have been putting a big addition onto there home which they are going
to move into and then their oldest son is moving into the older
section with his family. They are almost done. They put us to work for
a couple of hours and then fed us lunch. Asparagus is in season. We
have eaten a lot of it lately. It is growing on me but I have to drown
it in sauce. That evening we traded companions with the Bremerhaven elders. I
went to Bremerhaven with Elder Pilling. We played basketball with some
investigators that evening.  Here are some of the areas between Bremen and Bremerhaven:

 

Friday we met with two investigators--one of which should be baptized
next week. We even found a less active couple on the street. That
evening we exchanged back and met with Michael's roommate Samuel. We
ended up teaching him and a friend.

Saturday we did weekly planning and then met with a less active
member and watched a talk by Elder Bednar on being offended. The member said
that every thing was true but he still won't come to church. Still more work to do there.

Michael and the friend we taught the other day came to church on
Sunday. After Sunday meetings, we met with the missionary couple over the Institute program
and the bishop to talk about reactivating the Institute program here
in Bremen.

Looking forward to a zone conference this week in Hamburg and
hopefully a baptism on Saturday!  Pray for us!

Elder Tanner Germann

iPads!

Hey everyone!  Our mission got iPads this week!  The first mission in Europe to receive them.

 

This past week was transfer week so we had some people go and we had some people stay.  Sisters Hendricks and Hill left for Berlin and Sister Wborny came here to Bremen and Sister Montierth is now in Bremerhaven.  

 

Elder Despain and I scheduled fewer appointments this week in order to dedicate more time to finding.  It made me remember how much I love dedicated finding time.  When we pick an inspired area with a few contacts/less-active members in the area, and talk to everyone we see between the contacts, we are going to find new people wanting to hear about the gospel.  Finding new people is such a great feeling!  We found what we feel are three new solid investigators this week.  We had a lot of good luck making surprised visits at peoples doors.  We caught at least two people from our teaching pool at home who had committed to coming to church but in the end didn't make it there.  Here are some pictures of the area just outside Bremen where we've been doing some finding: 

 

We really focused on Michael this week.  We got to meet with him three different times and really made expectations clear for him for his baptism.  He is really excited for it and on-board with everything.  Unfortulately, Peter went out of town this week so we didn't get to see him other than at family home evening last Monday.  We also got back in touch with that Tim guy who said "natürlich!" to everything! 

 

On Friday we had Zone Training Meeting to receive the iPads.  The lessons focused on the basics--reading, praying and coming to church--and how the iPad is just a tool to help us improve in these areas.  That evening we had an dinner appointment--probably one of the best I have had on my mission.  Not because of the food, but because of the conversation.  He is in the bishopric and she is the relief society president.  We talked a lot about the ward and helping make the connection between us and the ward.  I really feel like they can help us make that connection.  

 

We have been really trying to involve the ward more and one of the ways to do that is through joint teaching opportunities with members.  We had three joint lessons this week which is four more than usual....

 

I know it's Memorial Day in the States today.  I miss the big BBQ and pool party at our house but had a chance to visit Bremen's memorial to all of their fallen citizens in the various wars--not the same as home but a memorial just the same!

 

I hope all is well at home!

Love,

Elder Germann

Staying in Bremen

I am here for at least another transfer (5 weeks) in Bremen!  Elder Despain is also staying.  We have a few changes in the district though--both Sister Hendricks and Sister Hill are going to be sister training leaders in Berlin.  So sad--they will be missed :(

 

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!

 

Yesterday, an hour before church, the sisters' investigator, Martin, who was supposed to be baptized after church texted them and cancelled. Really a shame.  The sisters know that they did everything that they could to get him there, though.  He has all of the tools he needs.

 

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