Abbildung meines Sinnes

Hallo mein Leserkreis!

Here is Elder Foster writing to you from Neubrandenburg all the way to the polish border. But really our area here is huge. I am pretty sure our area alone is about half the zone if not more. It is hard to believe that I am already in a new area. I have a whole new district now and a whole new place to call home I guess. It is almost as if I was never in Erfurt. There is certainly a different attitude that missionaries take on depending on what part of the mission you are in and unfortunately in this part of the mission. There is the joke that we are the Zion Campers which you have to know a little Church history to understand that one. But I find it unfortunate because as far as I have seen, this area isn't any more difficult than it is in other areas of the mission. Honestly the real struggle is within the missionary in these types of areas. You have to work harder but you will still get the same result, you just have to be willing to sacrifice. Although in this particular area I would say that there is an added level of responsibility in this area. This last Sunday I had to give a talk, translate, and teach a class and that is apparently going to be the pattern every Sunday. However with the added responsibility comes a little bit more sense of usefulness.   

Truly what is needed here is to live a life in joy, not only to endure for we have every reason to be optimistic in this world. President Hinckley insisted once, “Tragedy is around, yes. Problems everywhere, yes. But look at Nauvoo. Look at what they built here in seven years and then left. But what did they do? Did they lied down and die? No! They went to work! They moved halfway across this continent and turned the soil of a desert and made it blossom as the rose. On that foundation this church has grown into a great worldwide organization affecting for good the lives of people in more than 140 nations. You can’t, you don’t build out of pessimism or cynicism. You look with optimism, work with faith, and things happen.” A constant concept that has been in my mind is...how did the early missionaries do it? There were less missionaries and even less so members during that time but they managed to have great success. I remember a member in Weimar that told me about the first baptism that took place in the river in the park. And all that went through my mind was how did this missionary manage to baptize anyone? On Sunday they probably met in the missionary's apartment with maybe one or two other people and somehow they managed to make a small branch over time. The only reasoning that came to my mind was that this missionary and simply the early missionaries had testimonies of unbelievable strength. They must have truly known this work was true and truly known that the spirit would testify their words to those with whom they would speak. These kinds of things just make you reflect back on your testimony and your own drive and faithfulness. However let us make no mistakes and say that it is only because the great forerunners of this church that we are still a church today and still growing at an astounding rate but rather it is because of the foundation of which everything is built upon and that is Jesus Christ. "And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall." And that is why we should continue forward with hope and with optimism, no matter how much it seems that we have left behind or how much we have suffered because we will blossom no matter where we go so long as our foundation is still the same. And above all we will receive an eternal reward and peace that is precious above all earthy things and that is most desirable after only a taste of the divine love that the Lord gives us when we set our trust in him.  

Well I am not sure what else to say about this area seeing as I have only been here for a week. I just want to forget myself and go to work but sometimes the responsibilities and the expectations hinder me from doing that. I just have to focus on what I am doing right now and then things always go alright. Which is why sometimes I don't like P-day because there is just too much time to think about where you are and where you are going instead of just going and doing. I hope you all are enjoying your summer on the other side of the wall. I am enjoying mine even though it hasn't really felt like a summer yet. It has actually been a pretty cool temperate as of recently even had to where my jacket a couple times last week. But honestly I am fine with it because I don't like working in extreme temperatures anyways. But anyways I hope you all have a lovely week. And this is Elder Foster signing out.  

Tschüss!