Die Nackte Hitze

Hallo Hallo!

     Well the heat has finally made its way to Northern Germany. Which is of course a joy because we live on the 10th floor with no AC. Woo! Which feels completely out of place living in a first world country feeling like your dying in a third world country from heat. I don't remember it being this bad when I first got to Germany last summer. But when I remember correctly it was only hot for about a week and then it cooled down a little and really wasn't that bad at all. But now I must face the brunt of the German summer. Unfortunately I have to do it while wearing a white shirt and tie. Mmm! There is nothing like the feel of a sweaty collar all day long. 

     Okay so this week, let us start off with the weird first. So just the other day my companion and I were doing doors in a seemingly nice neighbor in the blazing heat. And then it happened....We ran into so many naked slash just about naked people that it was ridiculous. Like every other door it was a man in his speedo and some lady wrapped up in her towel or some naked child and it just never ended. Some of them exclaiming that they were essentially naked, which the response in my mind was yes yes I noticed that as well, why did you answer the door like that then? I can imagine that it would be really hard to listen to a message about Jesus Christ when you realize that you are standing almost completely naked in front of two young men where white shirts and ties, the contrast between the two is rather stark. All was not in vain though because we still managed to find a contact and also two people actually let us in and gave us something to drink so that was pretty nice of them. And we then managed to talk to the a little bit, mostly just friendly conversation with a Danish man and his family and a single German man but I still think it will help open up the doors to future missionaries down the road. 

      Another experience I can talk about is when we did some service for this lady that lives about 54 km away, however many miles that is. And we went there and we painted her shed that looked like a little log cabin but honestly it just reminded me of the times I helped my own grandma stain her porch. Anyways this lady also had about 11 cats and a little kitten. So we were basically swarmed by really old cats because she uses her home as a kind of little oasis for old cats where they can come to essentially die in peace. They call have funny names too, like for instance Dirty Harry. It was just really interesting to be sitting at this table underneath a big tree and then we would be surrounded by at least 6 or 7 cats. 

     Once again this area has shown that it is different from just about every other area. First of all we share a car with the sisters which means we are constantly together in the car, which anywhere else in the mission that would be called ''double-dating.'' Which basically just means sisters and elders doing something alone together. I don't know if I like being around the sisters that much to be honest. Haha I don't mean that in that I don't like them or that there is any problems. Let's just say I am little bit more used to being around people who are not quite so dramatic. Coming from somebody who spent the last two transfers in districts comprised only of Elders and a transfer in an apartment with some very bro-type Elders. Another interesting thing about this area I don't remember if I have mentioned it yet is that we have two different areas. And I don't mean it in the same way as Erfurt/Weimar we have two places to go proselyte in. I mean we have two different churches and kinds members to take care of. Every other Sunday we are either in Prenzlau or we are in Neubrandenburg. So you can probably imagine how it is a little bit harder to get to know members that way. Especially when members are not there every single week and there are not so many people to begin with.  

     Okay well now to my last piece of news. So this week we managed to accomplish some pretty cool things, namely, that we made out 3 different baptismal dates this week. Woo! However that is still not enough, because literally half if not more of the churches in Neubrandenburg and Prenzlau are made of converts and not people who were just born in the church. So there has to be more people out there who are ready to listen. It really is just so hard to even get people to have a conversation with you, it is ridiculous. I don't know sometimes there are just on and off days. Because this week when I went on exchange with one of the zone leaders in Rostock, we found like 4 people! I don't know just got to keep pushing through and know that all things work towards your good when you do it in righteousness. Rostock is quite pretty though, it totally has a beach town feeling to it. It made me want to go swimming. Which reminds me that we also have a lake here in Neubrandenburg, and every time we walk by it and see the water and all the people playing on the beach. I just think why, why can't we go beach volleyball finding. I keep asking my companion but he keeps saying no...I can't imagine why...no I am just kidding but as my last comment and I can say that the 4th of July celebration was sorely missed. 

Anyways I hope you all have a great weekend and that the heat doesn't get to you as much as it gets to me and I love ya and I pray for ya!

Tschüss,

Elder Foster

 

 

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!