Well this last week went by pretty fast. All the weeks seem to go by quickly. I feel like I have just always been on a mission too haha. When I try to think back to my life before this it doesn't seem real. It feels like I have just always been on a mission;) Not in a bad way though! This week has not been super eventful. I hope you all had a good week though!
Last Monday we played music with Brother Nwadilim. Elder Casper is learning the guitar and Bro Nwadilim is extremely good. We went and jammed with him for a few hours. Maybe I'll try to pick up guitar again when I get back.
On Tuesday we had a big empty day of no appointments. We went by on contacts in multiple parts of the city though. We also got a call from Elder Conley in Flensburg because his new comp was supposed to be coming through Neumünster (transfers were on Tuesday). There are a bunch of problems with trains right now and so the new elder had to take a bus from Neumünster to Flensburg. We waited for him for like an hour and then finally called the Zone Leaders in Hamburg to find out what time he had left Hamburg. We then learned that he had taken a different train that would take him to Kiel and then to Flensburg so he was not even coming to Neumünster. It wasn't that big of a deal but that was the end of our day.
On Wednesday we went to Bad Segeberg to visit Carsten again. After that we wanted to meet with Hamdan but he hasn't answered his phone for a few days. Hopefully we can get bak in contact with him. We want to try to find a less active in or near Bad Segeberg that can take Hamdan to church. If they will start coming to church again because of an investigator I figure we kill two birds with one stone right? We have a few ideas of who we want but we haven't been able to get into contact with them yet. Getting into contact seems to be our biggest problem this week. We finished the day with our ward mission coordination meeting. Viktor, our assistant GML was the only one there but we got a lot done. He is very proactive and is super excited about missionary work. He will definitely do a good job at helping us out.
Thursday we had District meeting in Kiel. Through our Bishop we found out that there is a bus that goes to Kiel for much cheaper than the train. We save about €12 so we took the bus. When we got back we went by on a few of the contacts near the church but no one was home at the time we went by. It's always frustrating when you hope that people will be home because its a normal time for people to be home but then they aren't.
On Friday instead of going by on contacts we just did some standard street contacting. Unfortunately we didn't really see any success from that either. We did weekly planning and then ate dinner.
On Saturday things went pretty normal until we got a call from a guy in the ward asking if we wanted to play soccer. We went home and changed really quickly and then met him, and a bunch of nonmember kids. We played for a little bit and then finished our day with a shower and some phone calls.
Sunday was interesting to say the least. It was normal up until priesthood meeting. The topic of discussion was everyones favorite priesthood duty, home teaching. Home teaching is a very big problem here in Germany and it is very common to find numbers at 15% or lower. The elders quorum president is a very good man and is extremely busy because he also works in Hamburg and travels back a forth every day. Just recently he changed the home teaching assignments and now a lot of the ward was upset because the had just been changed 5 months before. The problem was that most people still weren't doing it though. A bunch of the guys were upset and said that they didn't want to do it because they didn't feel supported by the Elders presidency or that they didn't have time. It basically turned into a public criticizing of the Elders quorum president. One guy even got so upset that he said he was questioning the fact that inspiration was being received for the assignments and stormed out of the room. Now I'm telling you all of this not to make fun or to criticize but because of what happened next. The president started talking again and people made a few comments and after a few very wise statements from a good brother in the ward the spirit entered the room very strongly. The Elders quorum president broke down and started to cry a bit and there was a pretty long silence in the room. It ended with him bearing very simple but powerful testimony of the great importance of home teaching. Many of the men in the room were crying a bit and the spirit was very thick. One of the brothers who had been critical spoke through years that he can find a way to get his assignment done. It was one of the most powerful meetings I've ever been in. I truly saw the sanctifying power of the spirit work in all of those men. Hard feelings and contention were driven away and were replaced with softened hearts and feelings of acceptance an humility. It was awesome:)
Another thing that happened on Sunday was more of a personal experience. As we were waiting about 20 minutes before sacrament meeting, my good man Brother Grühn approached me and calling me by name told me to come with him. We all went into another room with a very old sister in the ward who wanted a sick blessing because of her age and health (she is in her mid 90s). I performed the anointing and he sealed the anointing. It is hard to explain why but participating in the blessing was something that I spiritually needed at that time. Brother Grühn pulled me aside afterwards and told me that he wasn't sure why but he was strongly prompted to ask me to participate in the blessing. There is no possible way that he could have known that helping with that blessing was something I needed, but he did. This Sunday was just a very spiritual Sunday and a big Testimony builder for me. The Holy Ghost is real and he does speak to us. He can prompt us to certain actions and he can comfort and sanctify our souls. God knows us personally and he does take care of us if we let him. Sometimes we don't even have to let him and he still just takes care of us. I am strongly convinced that we have a Heavenly Father and Mother that love us. We don't think a lot about our Heavenly Mother but I know she's there. A mothers love is special and she is no different. They watch over us and the care so much about us. It's not always when and how we want it but they do help us right when we need it.
Sorry that this weeks email feels like a sacrament meeting talk;) I guess my hope is that you have felt a little bit of what I felt this week.
In terms of school next year, no you don't need to do anything.
If the iHome doesn't fit you can just send another one. It doesn't have to be super nice either, just something that has decent sound quality and can play music:) My iPod also has bluetooth capability. I don't know if they have cheaper bluetooth speakers but if they do then maybe that could help eliminate getting more shorts in the cords. I'll be able to fit everything in my suitcases when I come home. I don't really plan on bringing every thing back home with me either. I guess you could say that my clothes aren't all in the best of condition...
I think that that was everything. Sorry, not too many pictures this week. Just one so that you can see the fall colors here in Germany;) I hope that you all have a great week and that it is filled with awesomeness. Love you guys!
Elder Trevor "Longbow" Bone
Little Child of the West Winds
The Duke of Awesome
Sent from the tablet that I wish I had...
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