as quickly as I can. It was action packed Monday to Sunday.
Monday night we were invited over to a man's house for family home
evening with his friend, who is a member. We have been really trying
to get with this guy because he came to the ward party two months ago
and we were never able to make contact with him afterwards due to a
trip to the hospital. The night was pleasant and we got to know each
other. He grew up right around the corner from where we live. He was
very curious about how the mission works so we talked about that for
most of the time. At the end, his friend (the member) asked if he
would be willing to get together again and watch Finding Faith in
Christ. He agreed but he ended up in the hospital again. It was
honestly really hard to understand two old guys going at it speaking
Berliner.
Tuesday was Sister Means' birthday so we took her to get pumpkin spice
hot chocolates during lunch.
While we were at Alexanderplatz we ended
up talking to a guy wearing a 49ers hat. Turns out this guy's name is
Rick and he from Vegas playing in the World Series of poker tournament
this week in Berlin. He was amazed at what we do and ended up asking
us if we could take him along with us one day as we work. He actually
called us on Wednesday!
family and tried to teach the restoration but it is really had with
people coming and going the whole time. We gave them that Del Parson
portrait of Jesus and now it is the centerpiece of their family room.
We also got together with our friend Daniel from Cameroon that
evening. He really felt the spirit last lesson when we taught the plan
of salvation and he committed to coming to institute.
Wednesday morning Rick called. He came to the end of district meeting.
He then followed us around the church for a tour and we were able to
tell him able what it's like being a Mormon/missionary. He remembers
knowing Mormons in high school. He then sat in a lesson with a new
convert as we watch President Monson's fiery talk on commandments from
conference. Afterwards he took the us and the sisters out for lunch.
He is a super nice guy and loved learning more about the church. He
also wants to keep in touch. The relationships that you make can be
super valuable. Hopefully we'll get to hang out again sometime back in
the states and I'm going to make sure he reaches out to the
missionaries there! Wednesday night we exchanged with the zone
leaders.
I love being in Tiergarten. Downtown Berlin is so cool. We had a
packed day but only a pair of the appointments actually happened on
Thursday. We visited this Nigerian family and they fed us meat pies
(empanadas) and egg rolls (hard boiled eggs inside fried bread). Yum.
I came down with a bad cold that day and by the evening, I was a bit
incapacitated. I'm sure everyone at institute thought I was a zombie.
Daniel came though!
Friday we visited the blind lady. We got to meet her husband this
time. The lesson went well. We talked about the commandments of
praying often and studying the scriptures. She committed to do those
and come to church.
She came on Sunday again and loved it. Apparently
she stood up again in relief society and talked about how much she
feels the spirit there. This week we will need to talk about baptism.
Friday evening we went to pick up some of the Serbian kids to play
soccer. We ended up getting six to come with us. Super let down
though--they didn't let us in the hall because we hadn't told them
beforehand that we were bringing people with. Pretty awkward but I
guess it was a pretty good chance to get to know them better.
Saturday morning we had our ward missionary council meeting and then
we had a lesson with the Spanish sisters and our member friend from
Mexico. He came to church on Sunday! Super sweet! Saturday evening I
gave two baptismal interviews with a 12 year old and a 9 year old from
a member family. They will be baptized next Sunday. Like I said,
baptismal interviews are some of my favorite experiences on the
mission. I think the spirit is so strong. It was also a good
experience because it was the first time for me interviewing a kid.
Saturday afternoon was a circus. We went to a lesson with the Serbian
family and brought a member along. Imagine 14 Serbians packed in one
room to hear you. New people come every time we are their. They all
want to see the white Americans talking about Jesus. It was a real
struggle. The father, the one that is really interested, can speak
German as good as an average missionary. Everyone else can barely say
a sentence. He was the translator. Good thing he believed what we
said, right? It was really tough and there was lots of yelling and
blahhh. We went to pick them up Sunday morning but he wasn't there.
There was a family emergency in Spandau and so we came up empty
handed.
It was a packed week and I'm looking forward to this coming
week. Our long-time investigator who we took to the temple a little
while back comes home from vacation this week so I'm excited to hear
him say he's finally ready to join the church ;) and transfer calls
are Saturday. I think there's a good chance I'll stay but ya never
know.
Take care.
Elder Tanner Germann
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