Third advent

Hello everyone! Hope y'all are doing well. It was a pretty solid first week, work-wise.

I picked up my new companion, Elder Peatross, on Tuesday in Hamburg. He is from Provo, UT. We were busy busy running around from appointment to appointment this week but it was good fun. I'm not kidding, I think we were running several times to make buses and appointments. I'm sort of getting back in shape.

I want to update you on Br. Goltz. We had our regularly scheduled appointment with him on Thursday but the feeling was much different. You could tell he was a bit off. He said that his ex-fiance came by last week and spent several hours trying to cause doubt in his mind with reference to the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. To which she did successfully.  So on Thursday we listened to him rattle off a list of objections and doubts that he has now ever since he talked to her. I sat there thinking, No No No this is such a great guy, this can't be happening! He said he really wants the Book of Mormon to be true and he tried his best to defend it but he has all of these doubts now. We bore testimony of the Book of Mormon and encouraged him to continue to read in it and pray about it. We are taking the bishop there next week and are really hoping to help him develop his testimony and recognize answers to his questions through the Spirit. 

We had a lesson with an less active 22 year-old who was recently contacted by the congregation/ward. We took the bishop along and bore testimony of how the Church has helped us in our lives. I felt like I could really connect to him since we're about the same age. I told him my conversion story and said that it helped me to decide to live the commandments from the beginning because that made making decisions later, easier. It was a good lesson.

We had the ward Christmas party Saturday night that went well and then we went to meet a media referral that night.

That's right, we had a Christmas mirace and got a media referral that was legit! Usually they're people playing pranks on their friends but this 23 year-old who wants to get away from drugs and find happiness googled "what is the meaning of life" and ended up on the church website. He referred himself and we met him on Saturday night. It really felt like a Missionary Training Center role play. He was saying things like, "How do I repent?" "I just want to be happy in life." etc. Crazy cool. He came to church and then last night we taught the first lesson and he ate it all up. Hopefully that goes somewhere!!!

Gotta run! Everything good and blessed this week.

Love,

Elder Tanner Germann

Second advent

Noooo! My long, detailed letter all about the last week was somehow
deleted by my iPad! Big sad face :( so I'm going to have to give you a
quick little summary since I'm running out of time.

Last week we went to family home evening with a family that just
joined the church this year. The parents are in their late thirties
and they have young kids. What a great example they are that you can
totally change your lifestyle around to live the commandments of God.
I prepared the spiritual thought on prophets specifically for the
kids. I drew each kid on one side of a wall and Heavenly Father on the
other with President Monson on top. I talked about how Heavenly Father
blesses us with someone who conveys revelations to us. Samuel the
Lamanite is a perfect, literal example of this in the Book of Mormon.

Tuesday we had our ward mission committee and a handful of
appointments. One of our friends is a really nice old German man. The
ward loves him and he loves the church, he's just been atheist his
whole life so it's hard for him to grasp the concept of faith. After
reading Romans it was clear to me that it is most important for
him to come to church to develop that faith. He really likes Elder
Holland so we found a good video Elder Holland did on
section 59 of the Doctrine and Covenants. The lesson went really well
and the man came to church on Sunday.

I was asked to share a couple of thoughts I had at Zone Conference at our district
meeting this week. I really liked a scripture that was shared, 1 Corinthians
3:7.

In the past I've experienced that upset feeling you get when
you're transferred before someone you found or taught gets baptized.
This scripture really explains it well that everyone plays their role
in the conversion process but at the end of the day, God is the cause
of the change of heart in someone. I exchanged companions after the
meeting with our District Leader, Elder Hein. He finishes his mission next month.
He is a stud and works hard. We had an appointment with our American
friend where we talked about how the temple is important to obtaining
eternal life. Last time we had talked about the Light of Christ and
the next day I had the feeling to text him and invite him to read
Moroni 7. He did that and said, "Man! That chapter answered the
questions I had. I really felt something there." Cool!

Thursday we had an appointment with Herr Goltz. After reading a talk
by Elder Holland called 'The Inconvenient Messiah,' we felt like we
should share that message with him. We read Matthew 4 about the
temptations Christ experienced and how he could have given in but he
didn't. It was inconvenient for him and this life is inconvenient for
us as well. But when we put our faith in Christ, we can overcome every
challenge. He already experienced it all.

We found a guy during our companion exchange who lives in Oldenburg in Holstein, 

an hour away. We had an appointment with him Friday and it was so
interesting. This man is convinced that he can be Christian,
Muslim, and Buddhist--all at the same time. Obviously we couldn't get
past the atonement of Christ because, well, that's everything. We
also found a new guy while we were up there and will meet with him
this coming week.

Hesam is doing well. He showed up to our appointment with two friends
from Afghanistan. These guys really understand the whole concept of
missionary work. They tell everyone about the Church! Sure we have to 
filter it a bit with all the red tape. We can't baptize everyone because they're
not all allowed to stay permanently in Germany. But it's crazy--these
two guys got off the boat here a month ago and that is when they first
heard of the idea of Christianity. There are so many people in the
world that live in a bubble! We need to start Hesam this week on
family history.

Tomorrow is transfer day. Elder Jensen is going to Bischofswerda with
my trainee, Elder Oldroyd. My new comp is from Provo and just
finished the probationary training transfers.

Hope everyone has a good week!

Elder Tanner Germann

Hesam was baptized!!!

Dear All:

It was so great to see Hesam get baptized this weekend. Things really
came full circle. We invited him to a baptism my first week in Lubeck
now he is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints!  (Hesam is here on the right.)

What made the experience even cooler it's that his
two friends, also new converts to the church were able to baptize and
confirm him. Amir said the baptismal prayer in perfect German and
Mehrdad confirmed him in German and then switched into Persian for the
blessing. You could understand it but you could understand and feel
the spirit. Mehrdad gave a great talk at the baptism--solid, basic
gospel principles were hit and I led the music.

We spent the week prepping for the service and going to Zone
Conference. I thought the lessons were really good and I think the new
AP, Elder Siddoway, killed it. He was my Zone Leader in Oldenburg. They rolled
out the new Christmas campaign, #asaviorisborn.

Last night were were out in the pouring rain going by some old
contacts. We had the chance to talk to a couple for several minutes.
They had met with missionaries in the past but it was clear to me that
they didn't understand the role of the Book of Mormon in our
conversion to the gospel of Jesus Christ. I was able to bear
testimony of the Book of Mormon. In the end they sent us away but I
felt good and was grateful for the opportunity to share my testimony.

I hope everyone had a great week!

Love,

Elder Tanner Germann

Happy Thanksgiving from Lubeck!!

I wanted to start off this letter by wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving this week! I hope everyone has a great time eating together with family and friends. It is one of my favorite holidays and I am sad to be missing another one. I guess the comforting thought is that I'll be home for the next one!  Here are some pictures of Lubeck--it's been beautiful but cold here with our first snow this week:

We had another solid week this past week. We were able to give a priesthood blessing to a woman in the ward and she told us on Sunday that the next day she was feeling much much better. What a cool confirmation that the blessings that we give really do heal.  

We had a good lesson with a long-time investigator who in the opening prayer said that it finally hit him that he needs to stop looking for scientific evidence for everything in order to have faith in something and he asked for the ability to overcome that desire--pretty cool. That evening (Tuesday) we went to a member's house who fed us his self-proclaimed 'best Apfelkompott in the world'. That was the first time for me trying this glorified applesauce so I cannot confirm nor deny if it is the best in the world. So thick a spoon can stand up in it!!!

I exchanged companions with Elder Whitaker from Wednesday to Thursday. If you remember, he was in my Missionary Training Center district. It was really the first time we've worked with each other since the MTC. We had a good time and taught some good lessons. My favorite was the one we taught to an American about the difference between the Light of Christ, the power of the Holy Ghost, and the Gift of the Holy Ghost. I really like the concept of light and every time I see the word "light" in the scriptures I highlight it. Elder Bednar has three good Mormon Messages on the subject as well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkOVbT2oxnI

Our fliers paid off and we had a random guy from Ghana show up to our German class. Another investigator/friend of ours came as well.

We got in contact with someone listed in our area book this week. He has read the whole Book of Mormon but he definitely needs help understanding God. He believes in the Nordic gods. We're going to meet with him on Friday and he wants to take us to an ancient Viking ritual site....  Speaking of religious sites, here are some pictures of St. Mary's cathedral, one of Germany's largest.  See me also sitting next to the devil outside the chapel!!

Hesam is getting ready for the baptism on Saturday. He has his baptismal interview on Wednesday. That will be the highlight of the week! Mehrdad's other friend from Iran that he brought to church is also a really good guy. He says hes been looking for the true church and was so excited to hear that there is a living prophet on earth today because he thinks that the direction a prophet can provide is completely necessary in today's world.

I read a super good talk from President Harold B. Lee this week--Stand Ye in Holy Places. As a matter of fact, that whole April 1973 General Conference was full of amazing talks. Y'all should check it out this week: https://www.lds.org/general-conference/sessions/1973/04?lang=eng

Sending lots of love and thanks for your continuing support from Germany!!!

Elder Tanner Germann

A visit from an Apostle...and a baptism!!

That's right! Elder Ballard was in Berlin and they called on short-notice a mission conference to have him speak to us! Quite the feat that they pulled all 250 missionaries spread out across northern Germany together in a matter of two days. And it was worth it!

Elder Ballard was accompanied by the area president, Elder Kearon, and Elder Craig C. Christensen of the Presidency of the Seventy. They also spoke to us which was nice.

Elder Kearon said something really profound. He said that naturally we were going to write in our journals about how we shook Elder Ballard's hand tonight but that wasn't enough. We need to write, "Tonight I shook the hand of Elder M Russel Ballard, a modern-day prophet and from this night on I commit to ______ ." It really set the tone for the meeting and allowed me to focus on Elder Ballard's words.

Elder Ballard spoke on the importance of becoming a great teacher. He said, "No really, you have got to be good." And he said that when we study chapter three of Preach My Gospel and know it inside out, we will be able to adapt to any teaching situation that we find ourselves in. I talked a lot about finding as well and how we need to smile more and be bold. I have always loved finding and it was so good to get a pep talk from an apostle about it! He shared a few stories about when he was mission president in Toronto. One of which included the late Elder Franklin D. Richards. Elder Richards told the mission, "If you want to baptize more people into the church, you need to talk to more people."

A few of my favorite notes that I jotted down during the conference were: We have to believe! Its all about our attitude; When we're anxiously engaged, we end up with miracles; Rarely does the Lord interfere when he's not invited (prayer) *That's my favorite* :)

At the end he blessed us with fun, not foolishness and said that our attitude doesn't have to be, "Oh great, we get to get persecuted again...."

It was a great conference and a good pump up session! I'm ready to keep working.

The conference allowed me to go to Angelica's baptism in Marzahn! How cool it was to see everything come full circle.  Here she is, dressed in white!

We had good lessons this week and Hesam continues to progress towards his baptism.

I wish everyone a great week!

Elder Tanner Germann

The work in Lubeck is heating up!

Lübeck is not heating up but the work is for sure!  We had a really good week and we're looking forward to an even better one this week!  Here are some pictures of my area:

We had a really good lesson with Mr. Goltz, a man that just retired and is preparing to be baptized. He has a strong testimony of the gospel and really understands everything. We invited him again to a specific date but haven't nailed one down yet. More to come there.

Hesam, our Iranian friend who has a baptismal date is doing great! This week we taught a number of the commandments and he was taking notes as Mehrdad, the member, translated everything into Persian. He is super excited for the 28th of November!

We went knocking on doors in a dorm this week and were let in by a Nigerian man who proceeded to talk to us for an hour. Super nice man and he invited us back this next week.

Do you know what marzipan is?  Check this out:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marzipan    

 These figures are made of marzipan:

Mehrdad brought two more friends to church yesterday and they want to learn more so we are looking forward to meeting with them this week.

Saturday morning was super interesting when we met with a Pentecostal preacher.  That was a lot of fun. Nice guy but it was really hard trying to get him to listen to us explain the Restoration.

Sorry that it was a super quick note today. Hope everyone's well. I'm doing well and we're staying busy here trying to bring people to Christ!

Love,

Elder Tanner Germann 

First week in Lubeck

Hey y'all, super quick letter this week. I arrived safely in Lübeck on Tuesday afternoon to meet my new companion, Elder Jensen. He's really quiet but super nice. Did a semester at Snow College before his mission. We definitely have things to do here. We have some pretty solid investigators and a supportive ward.  I already miss Berlin and my district there--here are a few pics from train station and saying goodbye to the District:

We spent the week introducing me to everyone that we teach. We went invited two people to baptism, one accepted! Saturday night we had a lesson with a man from Iran named Hesam and invited him to baptism after we taught the plan of salvation. He accepted a baptismal date at the end of this month. He only speaks a little German so we have a man that was baptized last year translate everything into Persian. He does a great job translating and is actually the one that brought Hesam to church. 

Friday evening we had a missionary activity at the church. We did not have a good turnout but we made it worthwhile by teaching everyone there how we as missionaries teach the restoration. It got the bishop fired up and now he wants everyone in the ward to get the same type of training.

Saturday evening I had phone interviews with the senatorial offices in Wisconsin for congressional nominations so I can get back into the Air Force Academy. I think they went okay. I'll be excited to hear back from them next month.

We had a good turn out at church yesterday. The people in our ward here are mostly over 50 years old so it is an interesting dynamic. I got to stand up, introduce myself, and bear my testimony. I think I made a good impression on everyone. Naturally, they all love my name. We had a random guy from London walk in and stay for the services. Super nice guy studying music here. We're supposed to meet with him this week, hopefully that goes well.

Hopefully we can commit another person or two to baptism this week. I wish everyone well!

Elder Tanner Germann