Who knew? Subway in Germany :)
Hallo hallo meine liebe Familie und Freunde.
Well after a few weeks of grueling effort to get this
program back in shape. This week we have started to see the fruits of our
efforts. This week we found new people, received and contacted referrals. We
taught new converts, less active and active members. And we also had
Zone-Training Meeting and district conference. And next week seems to be just
as promising as this one.This week I got to go on exchange with my good friend Elder Flack, who I have also known since I came into Germany. And we had a really good time together. We keep joking with each other that I will come up to Rostock and be a Zone-Leader with him after this transfer. We also came up with some pretty good ideas how we can raise the excitement level of the missionaries in the zone. Later on in the week we also had district conference where we had all the Elders in the zone sleeping at our apartment with the exception of one companionship who technically serve in a area that is a part of the Neumünster stake. It was kind of crazy seeing as our apartment is pretty small and we only had one bathroom of course for a bunch of Elders.
Unfortunately my mind is pretty preoccupied and I do not feel super capable of writing a grandiose letter. And there are just too many random things to talk about that I am not sure what to talk about and have it be comprehensible. So instead I will just talk about some of the things that happened this week that really had an impact on me or that I thought were of most value. Basically all of it taking place at district conference. Which is basically stake-conference but smaller in case you were wondering.
So as I said we had district-conference this week. And we had a Seventy as a guest, his name is Elder David P. Homer in case you are wondering. The mission president was also there too. Probably the highlight of the Saturday evening session was when the mission president asked me to get up and give my testimony of the atonement of Jesus Christ in a meeting where he, a seventy, and the district president all gave talks. What made it special for me and here is where we back a giant bridge in what I have been talking about is this. Although I wasn't able to be at the funeral of my sister this week and as much as I wish I could have been there and to have been there for my family during this difficult time. I was able to convey my own personal message of the living hope of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. It might be difficult for all of you to understand how I feel seeing as I am on the other side of the world with only my meager talent of writing to try and convey all my feelings because of the said recent events. But hopefully I can help you understand at least a little bit in this letter. I actually didn't know the funeral service took place until after i had this opportunity to give my testimony before all these people which for me actually made it quite fitting, because it felt like all the things I would have wanted to say if I was there for the funeral but instead to a different audience. I will try to say now what I said then. Really in this last month I have seen the mercy of the Lord and how he has prepared me to hear about the death of my sister. Whether it was the funeral I was at for another member here in Germany where i got the reassuring sense of hope that comes from the gospel therefore giving the funeral a feeling of solemn beauty rather than a suffocating sadness. Or whether it was being approached by a small sincere girl who wanted to know if God was there and if he could resurrect her lost cousin. And the many experiences I have had on my mission where I have talked to those who have lost members of families and who have been gone for many years and did not have the hope of ever seeing them again. Or of another moment where I met an old man and his daughter and I promised them that they could see their mother/ wife again, and in that spirit filled moment they accepted a copy of the Book of Mormon. After so many opportunities that have been given to me to bear witness of the beauty of the gospel and that these lost precious people in our lives will be seen again. How can I now give up? How can I cease to be happy when so much has already been promised to me by my loving Heavenly Father? In John 17:3 it says, "And this is eternal life, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." Well, I myself have a testimony of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I know that everything hangs from it. I know that through it I am enabled to do all things and to overcome all things. Because of it I know my sister is at peace and although I will miss her with all my heart. I know that I will see her again. I know that our Heavenly Father has a much greater plan for us than to just live on this earth. But that he has a eternity's worth of happiness and joy prepared for us. So maybe it hasn't quite hit me just yet. But in this moment I am well and I am even happy. I am simply thankful for the knowledge that I have and for the love that I have received from my Heavenly Father and family and friends. But truly the message of the Atonement isn't just about a happiness that we hope to have in the future but it is a happiness that we can have now if we simply rely upon him.
So it is safe to say that I was grateful for the opportunity
to share my testimony at this meeting with many other great men that truly try
to give themselves to the Lord. Later I was even mentioned in Elder Homer's
talk and thanked me for my testimony as other members did as well after the
meeting was over. It was definitely a special moment for me.
Other random things that I did at district conference was
that when we where having a new convert / investigator meeting with the mission president, District President, and the seventy. I was asked by the Seventy to
translate for him into German, so that was pretty nerve racking. Haha and then
one of the new converts also gave us about three referrals and brought them to
church where I then had to translate for all of them from German into English.
It is a good thing that I have been doing a lot of that recently. The other
missionaries were relieved when the Seventy got up to talk because then we
didn't have to translate anymore and got to sit back and actually listen more
intently. It was really quite an eventful week.
Well I hope you all are doing well and of course you are all
in the my heart and in my prayers.
Love ya,Tschüss,
Elder Foster
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