Verkünde aller Welt die frohe Nachricht

Hallo und Hallo,

I guess some things never change. I remember when I was in the MTC and I struggled to think of something to say and even now whilst in the mission field do I sometimes find it hard to think of something to say. Or at least how to start these things you might call letters. Well its cold in Germany or shall I say its pretty wet. You can't seem to escape from the wetness. I have never before in my life really had to worry about mold as much as I have now in my life. Just this morning actually I was scrubbing off mold from the walls in the bathroom and then spraying it with anti-mold spray. Just imagine black spots of mold suddenly appearing on the ceiling and high parts of the walls over night. But easily managed with the proper care and attention. 

Yeah this week was like most other weeks unfortunately. You just push forward and make progress here and there a little. As the winter slowly approaches the work also slows down in itself. Less and less people are on the streets and doors are not opened as frequently. And also something else I found out or am experiencing is that whether a missionary is in his last transfer or still has a year left on his mission or more. They can still be just as distracted or as unmotivated. I will just have to try to be an example as much as I can even if I am the junior companion. Although this last week I had my second experience being the senior companion when my companion went on exchange with the Stadthagen Elders and the trainee came to me in Hannover. At first I was a little nervous but then things turned out pretty great actually. We even gave the very first lesson together to a brand new investigator that we found prior. And I am very happy to report that it went quite well and that she is very excited to meet with us again and come to church next week. It is when these kind of things happen or these little miracles that make me so very grateful to be a missionary. I mean this lady just lost her husband about a year ago and she doesn't really have anybody close to her here in Germany because she is originally from Russia. But it was just so satisfying to hear her say at the end of the lesson that her heart felt lighter. That is truly the rest the Lord offers us through his spirit. 

Other things that have been going on around me is that last saturday there were six different demostrations going on in Hannover and the Saturday before that there was a Nazi demonstration. Haha there was a lot of policemen at Hauptbahnhof (Main-train station) that day. There was even a demostration for "Pro Babytragen" haha which means they are pro for babies being carried or held. That babies need more physical interaction. Haha kind of random. Also I don't think anywhere else on my mission will I have more african food than I have had while being here in Hannover it is just a fact. Also on Saturday I gave my first two blessings to some member's kids. If there is anything that is going to be hard about leaving Hannover someday it is that I will have to leave behind some of the new converts and investigators and members behind. You don't really want to leave them but at the same time you don't want to stay in the same area for too long. I will have to be sure to get some pictures with them. I haven't been very good with taking pictures unfortunately. So I am sorry to all those who may have been wanting to see more pictures of me and all that. But I think I am ready to leave Hannover. Not that I don't enjoy being here and that I haven't had good experiences here. I just feel like its time to go somewhere new. The Hannover days will soon be coming to an end or if not after this next week then probably only one more transfer here. 

Last time I talked a little bit about my newly found interest in scriptures or that I now have a little collection of German bibles. And as much as I am grateful for the interest I have found in scriptures and in other written materials from prophets and books about doctrine and that Heavenly Father has helped me grow this interest in them. And even Jospeh Smith himself had old editions of the scriptures in Latin, Hebrew, German and Greek languages. But I thank God even more for the Gift of the Holy Ghost. I have got some of the oldest written scriptures in the world, but I have the got the oldest book in my heart, The Holy Ghost. It is within me and its comprehends more than the world. And I will associate myself with it. And that is something worth sharing with the world. I know that if I continue to follow the leadings of the spirit, it will always lead me right. Sometimes it may be contrary to my judgement, but if I stay true to its whisperings. With time it will become a principle of revelation so that I will be able to know all things. 

I hope all is well wherever you are right now. And I hope that my small writings have helped bring some kind of joy to your day. 

Tschüss,

Elder Foster

Sich Beherrschen

Guten Morgen, Tag, Abend!

Not sure whether the weeks are going by fast or whether they are going by slow. It is kind of a weird paradox to say the least. You will think to yourself whoa it is already Sunday and then at the same time you can't even remember what happened at the beginning of the week because it feels like it was so long ago already. You know the scriptures often speak of "the rest of the Lord." But I am here to tell you...that is a lie! Haha there is no such thing as rest. Even President Joseph F. Smith said,"The rest referred here is not physical rest, for there is no such thing as physical rest in the Church of Jesus Christ." However of course this rest does mean that we will be spiritually at rest and peace which come from settled conviction of the truth in our minds. And most certainly happy are they who have attained such. I say these things because that is what it has felt like for me while being on a mission. I feel a never-ending physical tiredness but at the same time I feel a limitless oppurtunity stirring inside me to become better and happier as time continually goes on.

Something that I have been doing a lot while I have been here in Germany is helping people to move in and out. I have already done it too many times to lose count or more like I have lost even the desire to remember them and then count them. It is funny too because you are never helping anyone out of the first floor of a building. It is always from the highest floor! And guess what there are barely any elevators in apartments in Germany. Haha it seems the members in Germany like to use missionaries as work horses sometimes. This is not an uncommon occurence for any other missionary in the mission. Even this week we went to a members new apartment, which is of course at the top of the building, and we helped them scrap off all of the wallpaper in the entire apartment. I don't say any of this to be begrudging or anything, I just think it is quite amusing sometimes in the ways the members decide to use the service of the missionaries.

So i have to tell you about one of our new investigators. His name is Friedrich and oh goodness he is one of the coolest guys if not the coolest guy I have met on my mission so far. Okay so a little background this isn't the first time that Friedrich has been taught by missionaries. And he himself is in his 70's. You might be thinking,"wait what, did he just say a guy in his seventies is the coolest person he has met on his mission?" Ya I did! It's kind of funny because he is the one who called us and wanted to meet with us. I guess I don't have a ton of time to say everything about him but basically he picked us up with one of our new converts and took us to a chinese buffet (so good) with him and his wife. We even said an opening and ending prayer out loud in the restauarant haha kind of funny. And basicall we talked to him about the gospel and ate really good food and got to know eachother. Then he paid for it all and took us back home in his car and took the joint teach/new convert that we brought along back home too. And he is just so goofy and hilarious. He even talked to us in English for about 80% of the time because he loves talking in English. When he speaks English he sounds British, which is funny because he is so German. Although I feel like he is collecting missionaries or something because he has a little book with missionaries names with their emails and addresses in it. Haha Times like those make you even more happy that you are on a mission because of all the great people you get to meet.

Something else that I have learned on my mission or at least that I am still in the middle of learning. Is lets say preparing for marriage in a way. Haha before you get any ideas let me explain. Learning to have to get a long with someone that you are around for 24 hours and did not choose to be with, definitely prepares you to get along with someone that you are going to be around for 24 hours whom you did choose to be with. Do we understand eachother? haha And it really makes you think about the kind of qualities you want in your future friends and wife. But in other news I went to Hamburg for the first time yesterday. To go see the Piano Guys, because all the missionaries were invited to go for free. That was pretty cool and the Piano Guys definitely have strong testimonies and had great things to say.

Another thing that has changed about me on my mission is my intrigue in the scriptures in general. Especially with the Bible right now at the moment. I mean I had read the Bible before but I never really took to it or I guess I wasn't reading/searching in it like I should have and I had always liked the Book of Mormon better. But man.....I have like 4 different bibles in German right now! Don't ask me why. Haha and I am even thinking about learning Hebrew just so I can read the Old Testament in its first form. All of this has to do with my growing curiousity in languages and how one thing is portrayed in one language to another. Fun and intriguing stuff though.

But anways thanks for reading these letters and hopefully they have entertaining and valuable insight of my life in them. I hope all is well back in the states or wherever you are at the moment. I pray as much for you guys as I do for myself. And for those that are curious it takes about 5-7 days for me to get a written letter if it is sent to my apartment. And it probably takes 3-4 weeks for me to get a package, even longer sometimes, just depends when we have the oppurtunity to get mail from the office. But yeah have a nice week everyone!

Tschüss,

Elder Foster

Beharrlichkeit

Hallo hallo, 

Starting the actual letter is always the challenge for me. But this week was filled with nothing and everything at the same time to say the least. We had zone training meeting, interviews with the mission president, and stake conference this week. So it was certainly packed with spiritual support for the missionaries. And I do have to say that it was quite fun to help Elder Karlen, one of the zone leaders, to set up for zone training meeting in our chapel at the Hannover ward building. Although it was quite hilarious as we were..ahem..practicing for it when we were speaking into the microphone. And then Brother Jensen, who is in the stake presidency, shows up in the chapel and tells us the whole building can hear us....haha then he said he was joking and that nobody really heard but it is still being broadcasted out in the foyers. So that was a memorable moment of the week. And I would say that the interview with president was good although it did make me a little nervous at first, for some unknown reason. Although, the president did say something very interesting to me during the interview which was that the missionaries in my group are going to be the future leaders in the mission. Whether that means he is foreshadowing something for me in the future or not I am not sure. But these next six months will be interesting because if we are the future leaders we are also the leaders that are going to have to make the transition for the new mission president that will be coming in the eventual future. There are some interesting insights for you about the mission if you cared to know.  

On the actual missionaring side of things not a whole lot happened. I met my first person from Nepal haha so that was cool and she could speak English and better than German and Hindi....I feel like everyone in the world knows English. Something that really is cool that happened to me this week is that I have been sticking random books of Mormon in other languages in my bag this week and so far I have been giving all of them out. It is really interesting how the Lord works sometimes. And I am sure a lot of you have been wondering whether I actually teach any Germans. And the answer is...very few. And it is really quite sad. Sometimes when we have really bad days where no one talks to us or talks to us for more than 30 seconds, it is usually because most of the people we talked to were Germans. It really goes to show the kind of society the Germans grow up in. They have no desire to serve God or to try to find him. Many Germans say that the only thing they believe in is themselves. Sometimes members will ask why we don't bring any Germans to church or have any German investigators or only have very few. It is simply because barely any Germans ever listen to us or they think we are Jehovah’s witnesses. This is sometimes the bane of my existence. This thus is the reason why member work is so very important. Germans that are friends with Mormons or have family members that are Mormons are far more likely to open up and listen when we are referred to them by a member. And believe me referrals in Germany are almost none existent sometimes. If more members realized this and put it into practice then there would be a whole lot more Germans being taught. But no worries the work moves forward nonetheless. Next week we get to meet with Friedrich and he said he is going to take us out to get some Asian food and then have us teach him the gospel. Woo! And we are going to met with Frau Schlaa at the church with the Freimann's as well on another day. The Lord prepares people for prepared missionaries. 

So far with every new companion and every new week I feel like the Lord is trying to teach me something. Sometimes I am not sure whether I get the message he is trying to send. But most of the time I realize the benefit that I receive from the experience. Sometimes my head is jammed packed full of things that I know I need to work on or that I need to learn about or to help someone else find out for themselves. But really it all just comes down to sticking to the work and to simply never give up and push on through. Real faith fosters hope for the future. It allows us to look beyond ourselves and our present cares. It is as I constantly try to apply that in my life and in my missionary work that I am able to see the fruits of the Lords work in my life and in the lives of others. Other than that I am not sure what to say. Other than I have accepted the cold, cold reality of the changing weather. And that there is no such thing as physical rest in the Lord's kingdom! Haha I guess I will leave you with a little spiritual nourishment German style!

Wenn ich einer Herausforderung gegenüberstehe, schaue ich zuerst auf Jesus Christus. Ich weiß, dass ich weiß, dass ich weiß, dass Er weiß! Das ist mir oft schon genug. Wenn es nicht genügt, habe ich Muster, die mir helfen diese Beharrlichkeit und diese Widerstandskraft zu finden und zu behalten. Das Gebet und das tiefe Schriftstudium sind ein wesentliches Muster dabei. Denken Sie daran, es ist die Veränderung der kleinen Dinge, die wir oft tun – jeden Tag. Der wunderbare Fortschritt der Kirche des Herrn auf dieser Erde ist dem Glauben an Jesus Christus zuzuschreiben, den schon unsere Vorväter und Pioniere hatten. Ich stehe in Ehrfurcht, wenn ich ihre Lösungen sehe und ihre Beharrlichkeit, niemals aufzugeben – „Niemals, niemals, von dir lass uns gehn“ ... „Immer, immer, zu dir wir nur stehn!“ 

Viel Spaß,

Elder Foster ;) 

Macht ein licht an! Und weiter geht's!

Hallo Leute!
      Here is Elder Foster reporting to you from a internet cafe in Hannover. The weekly report will now begin. Starting off with my new companion who I met this last tuesday. His name is Elder Johnston and he comes from West Jordan, Utah. That would be my third companion from Utah. Its like my program in Hannover is cursed to be composed of two missionaries from Utah. So of course we are the least exciting to hear from during the Sunday member eating appointments when the other two missionary companionships are there. Haha its fine though, I just find it funny. But this companion thankfully has only been on his mission for just barely a year now and just came from the Bad Bentheim area, which is a driving area in our mission. And for the first week together it has not been so bad. If we can really unite in companionship I know we can really start to see the blessings.
     This week actually felt kind of long. Some significant things happened to say the least. One of our investigators is really having a hard time right now. And by that I don't mean with the gospel but with his life in general. I don't really want to go into the specifics because it probably wouldn't be okay to talk about something that personal. But it is really hard to see him struggle so much and I really wouldn't know what I would do either if I was in his position. Doesn't help that we were born on the same day and year, just kind of gives me a trippy feeling. And unfortunately because he is from Syria and he doesn't quite meet the standards for us to teach him unto baptism. We can only do so much too help, and encourage him. Honestly a lot of the people we teach have things in their lives that are really hard to deal with. It really makes me glad that me and all the companions that I have had can be there to help them or at least give them some comfort. I have met a lot of cool people and I hope some day when I am back home in the future that when they visit Utah, they will be able to come see me too. Especially the Tamani family, they are from Fiji and they are so cool. Or Edward Kane and his family who are from Ghana. The have all inspired me to be better in some way. Oh and  of course Saud has to come, I mean just to hear him try to do an "American" accent is hilarious. We had fun one night on the train coming back from the Knabe's house while he said a few English lines in his "American" accent.

        So actually just last night Elder Johnston and I made out a baptismal date for a lady who is in a part member family and who has been taught for the past six years or so. When stuff like that happens it just makes me happy. I imagine in my head, somewhere where all these past missionaries are going woo! Even though not all is said and done, I have faith that it will happen. Although last night I was thinking what has this lady been taught the past six years?! Why doesn't she know any of this. Haha. For some reason in my mind I had this idea that missionaries were brainwashed by the time they got back home from their missions or that at least other people thought that. Really that is not true at all. You may imagine a mission as being notorious for a lot of rules and a lot of enforcement behind them. That is also not really true. Yes there are a lot of rules and yes there are consequences when you break them. Ultimately all the missionaries here are on there own and have complete control over what they do. It is actually quite mind boggling to me. Because we have such a structured system of missionary leadership that is all being led by a bunch of 18 to 20 something year olds with pretty much little to zero leadership or management skills prior to the mission. If the Lord isn't helping out with that then I don't know who is. It really is amazing the things that can be pulled off by missionaries who are united in one purpose. This whole mission could become a mess in little to no time if missionaries decided to be disobedient. But somehow all of us or at least most of us stay the course and do what needs to be done. 

     I guess I will end with sharing a little bit about my birthday. First of all thank you to all of those who sent me letters for my birthday or sent me something or other by whatever means. I am really grateful for your support and love, sometimes a little too grateful, like when I am thinking in my head. "Aaaaw I miss you guys!" Though yeah thanks a lot! And on Saturday which was my birthday it just kind of started like any other. Nobody really said anything and nothing really happened. But....when I went to district meeting that day. Suddenly in the middle of district meeting they flipped over the white-board and it had happy birthday stuff written on it and they started singing happy birthday and then Brüder Metzig came out of left field with a cake. So it was safe to say that I was really surprised and really happy about that. And apparently my last companion set that all up too. So that was super nice of him. And even on Sunday, Kim the recent convert that I sent you a picture of gave me a present too! I wish I had the card with me so I could tell you what it said. Basically it was very sweet and she even said I was like a little brother to her. Of course it was companioned with chocolate and even a little book. So I was surprised by her kindness as well. Even though its weird being 21 and still not even close to finishing my mission. A member yesterday already thought that I was pretty close to leaving back home because of it. It is all good though and I am glad that I still have plenty more time. But all in all it was a good week and hopefully only more growth and adventures will be in store for me. 

Mormon 9:24-28

Tschüss,

Elder Foster

 (With Kim at her baptism)