Elder Flack & Elder Foster
Hallo liebe Familie und Freunde, wenn ihr noch da seid!
The time is
getting ever closer. And it still feels as if nothing has changed. Even with
the sure knowledge that everything is coming to an end. If anything the only
real thought that ever becomes of concern is when you ask yourself whether you
did everything you could, if you came and you accomplished what you were
supposed to do. It is not so much about what I gained or how much I have grown
although those are certainly important things but it really is about whether
you served the Lord in exactly the ways you were supposed to, if you pleased
the Father with the time that you have spent on a mission. That is truly the
question, not what am I gonna do when I get back or if I grew in whatever way
as much as I wanted to do but just the simple confirmation of whether I served
my Lord and Savior in a way that has pleased him.
On Monday we
did our usual P/Day stuff, meaning we bought groceries, we cleaned the
apartment, we napped/chilled a little bit and did some emails. But at the end
of the day all of the missionaries in Cottbus were invited to the Farnsworth
family's home for family home evening. They are super down to earth and they
are a young family who themselves were also on missions not too long ago. So
they can really relate to us and we can actually talk to them about missionary
work.
Tuesday, we
went all the way to the center of Berlin to have our interviews with President.
It was great because I got to see some good ole buddies I hadn't seen in a
while. On our way back to Cottbus we took a quick stop at the Berliner-Dom
because every time I have been in Berlin I have been meaning to go but never
quite made it there and because we are missionaries we get to go in for free so
that was really awesome. But after that we pretty much had no time left in the
day because it takes forever to get to the center of Berlin and then back to
Cottbus.
Wednesday, we
got pretty sick and actually the night before I was not feeling well at all and
even threw up a few times. Even then we still left the apartment for the most
part of the day and met with a couple people and tried to get some other things
done. But was not too exciting, by the end of the day I found out that I wasn't
the only one who got sick, because all the other missionaries in Cottbus also
got it as well but no one had it as bad as me. Fortunate for them of course
haha.
Thursday was a
blazing hot day and still feeling the effects of sickness but we managed to
still meet with some peeps, one of them being Herr Konetzny and his brother.
They are pretty solid and come to church basically every week for the past
while now and read in the Book of Mormon and everything but oh goodness this
man is so logical it is possible to get him to make a decision about baptism
without first knowing every little detail about the church and what we believe,
despite actually telling us a few clear stories and expressing very clear
impressions that basically everything we do is right and is true and comes from
God. It is okay though we still managed to ask him a few of the baptism
questions to see where he was at and basically it comes down to finding out
whether Joseph Smith was a Prophet and if Thomas S. Monson is also a Prophet
today. So naturally we invited him to once again really occupy himself with the
Book of Mormon and praying about it to get an answer that it is true and later
we will probably do some more Thomas S. Monsoon related subjects to help him
get an answer about that as well. Then we had English class at the end of the
day and that of course is a ball of fun. I am not sure if they the people come
to actually learn English or if they are just there to laugh at my goofiness
while I am teaching English.
Friday the
blazing heat continues and the sickness is still there but Naja life goes
forward. I probably had my last eating appointment ever with one of my favorite
families in the ward, the Kallenborn family. That was good, there has never
really been a family that I could just talk about the gospel to as casual
conversation and also be goofy at the same time. Not to mention they are
amazing member missionaries. I wish so many other German members were like them.
After that we got stuck in the city where this family lives because the train
was years behind schedule, so we just sat in the heat and waited for this train
to come for eternity. And then got on a train filled to the brim with people.
And of course I have to mention again that there is almost no such thing as AC
in Germany let alone Europe. Very few places have AC and maybe half or less of
public transportation is the same way. So yeah the summer is anything but
glamorous in Europe, especially when it is so hot. But once we finally got back
to Cottbus we found out that our next appointment fell out because the person
we were supposed to visit went to the hospital so we went right away to go
visit her there and then that was basically the end of the day of than doing
weekly planning.
Saturday, we
had a couple more appointments and also had a fun little lunch time with an
investigator and the Sisters at a Vietnamese restaurant. I had been meaning to
go forever but it is closed on Mondays so I haven't had the opportunity up
until now. Suddenly in the middle of the day, a huge storm came in and kind of
got in the way of doing any other missionary work on that day.
Finally, we
get to Sunday and that was a bit more relaxing, not very hot but also not
stormy. Although we probably had the most awkward eating appointment with a
member ever because the father was so nervous about having other family over
that we didn't even pray together or give a spiritual thought and we weren't
even there for an hour. Not to mention the wife asked me if I wanted a little
bit more food and I said yes thinking I was going to get another schnitzel and
a little bit more potatoes, which is exactly what she said, and then she comes
back with a plate filled to the brim with more food. So that was naturally not
so pleasant since I was almost full and then after eating all that was on the
plate, I was beyond full haha.
Our today
ended off with a lesson with a new convert/less active, who is pretty cool. But
he somehow cannot put his words into action. He can literally go off for almost
a half hour about the Bible and mention ten thousand scriptures and almost the
entire history of the Bible but then when he says he is going to come to
church, he will show up maybe once out of like 7 or 8 times that you actually
ask him and he says yes he will.
But that
basically sums up the hundredth part of the week. And now the very last week
will begin. Wish me luck and I will see you next week in my very last letter as
missionary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Love ya!
Tschüss,
Elder Foster
