Die vorletzte Woche! Die Dämmerung bricht an!

Hallo meine geliebte Schätze! Ich hoffe, ihr habt euch außerordentlich über diese Woche gefreut!


   You think by this time you would have overwhelming sense of despair because you are about to go home and there is essentially no time left. But even to this day it does not feel like I will be leaving and that at the end of the transfer the next one will begin just as per usual. But I guess it gets more and more real as they start sending you all your tickets to go home. Like today I got emailed my ticket to Freiberg where it will all end. So yeah....haha.

   But this week was pretty good and also pretty eventful. Our week started off pretty well because after emails we just stayed in the church and waited for an investigator to show up to our appointment and thankfully he showed up which is awesome because most appointments I have actually made out where we meet in the church they hardly ever show up. However he is a really cool guy and he is originally from Spremberg which is about a half an hour from here but he studies here in Cottbus at the university. His parents are actually Atheist and was raised that way as well. But he always felt that there was something missing in his life that alcohol and cigarettes and other things like that could never quite make him content. But as he actually started watching a Sunday church service and reading in the Bible he noticed that this hole in his life was starting to be filled. So obviously we had a really good lesson with him and he is very willing to read in the Book of Mormon and find out for himself whether it is true. So I am excited to see how all that will turn out.

      We, of course, had some time to do some finding and as always the Lord has seen it fit to bless us and lead us to people that are willing to listen. This time it is a little Syrian family that invited us over to talk and meet with him. And they are super awesome! The dad was actually on the national basketball team for Syria and studied English literature when he was still in Syria. You always meet the coolest people on the mission. We talked a lot with him and a lot of what he believes is very close to what we believe which is really awesome because he also said he is not really Muslim but simply has his personal relationship towards God. Unfortunately, we weren't able to have a very long lesson with them because then I got a call from one of the assistant's of the president who told me that one of the missionaries in my district was in the hospital. So we needed to leave as soon as possible to go and pick up his companion and spend the night in Forst with him so he was not alone, while his companion was in the hospital. It made it really interesting because the train leaves only once in the hour from Cottbus to Forst and it was already 8:30 at night when they called us and the train leaves at 9:07. We were on the other side of the city and we still needed to go home real quick and pack to spend the night. So, of course, we missed the first possible train but then we get to the train station and we find out that there is no train that leaves in the 10 hour at night. So we had to wait another hour at the train station and didn't even leave Cottbus until 11:13ish which means we didn't even get to Forst until like close to midnight. Then we still had to walk to the apartment from the train station. It wasn't until about 1 or a little after that I actually got to go to sleep. So it was a really long day and really unusual because missionaries are supposed to be home by 9:30 at the latest. To make a long story short, we still don't know what is wrong with this Elder but the very next day they sent down another missionary who was just kind of sitting in the office. But it seems that the missionary is doing alright in the hospital and it is not life threatening or anything so that is great news.

      Another great thing that happened this week was that a Seventy came and visited our church which was really awesome because I already know him and because he is just a great man in general.

One of the members of the Stake Presidency also came to church and gave a talk along side of him and oh goodness those were some good talks. I really hope I can look forward to good talks like that when I get back home. I feel like talks from the Stake Presidency should be just as exciting as the ones I experienced this last Sunday. I also strongly feel that Stake/Ward-Conferences should be just as exciting as missionary meetings are. We truly do need this missionary Spirit in every aspect of our church and if you look at the beginnings of our Church that is exactly how it was. Every member WAS a missionary.

      I guess my concluding thoughts for the week are that I am extremely grateful for the time that I have had here. It really is true that you can go out on a mission and have so many wonderful experiences and meet so many wonderful people and have lots of joy but the most important thing that has been for me is simply the faith in Christ that I have developed and the desire to continue growing it and knowing that there is still much much more room to grow. Without that I think I honestly would not have gained very much on my mission. And of course, I plan to continue to share this faith in Christ because there is no other thing in which we can have absolute assurance. There is no other foundation in life that can bring the same peace, joy, and hope. In uncertain and difficult times, faith is truly a spiritual gift worthy of our utmost efforts. 

      I wish you all a wonderful week! And you will hear from me again in the final stages of my mission. The metamorphosis is complete. I love you and I pray for you!

Tschüss,

Elder Foster

Es gibt kein letztes Zeugnis!

Hallo liebe Familie und Freunde!

 

I am coming to/from Gurmenland! The weeks are just flying by and this week was quite jumbled up to say the least. As in some of the days where we usually have things were on different days so the beginning of the week felt like the end and the end felt like the beginning. All in all though it was a good week although we were able to meet with as many people as we wanted to. Haha not like that is a surprise.

 

On Monday we basically got up and got ready and then went off to go and help a member. We basically just helped him carry heavy pieces of granite to the job site where he would be installing the granite floor. So it was a lot of heavy lifting but I was okay with that if just for the fact that I have been in the mood to do some physical labor. Who would've though that you would get into that sort of mood? We were planning to do other things on our P-Day but then we got a call from one of the members that said that one of the recent converts in the ward was in the hospital. So went to visit him. Unfortunately, he was in the psychiatric ward so you can imagine why he was in the hospital. But thankfully we were able to lend him a little bit of comfort in this time of need. The Lord really does show you how to comfort those in any sort of situation.

 

Tuesday, we went with the Sisters to a lesson with a lady that I call Frau Balrog. We originally just went with them because she wanted a blessing and of course we went to give her the desired blessing. However, we were wrangled into staying a little bit longer and ending up staying for the entire lesson. And I am sure I have mentioned this before but because I am with such young missionaries in this area. You could add up the total amount of time that the three other missionaries have been out on their missions and it wouldn't add up to a year so yeah I am definitely the most seasoned missionary to say the least. So it was good that I was there because this lady loves to talk so for new missionaries that can be kind of hard because you are not quite getting everything and then you have to somehow interrupt her so you can actually get back on course. But in the end, it turned to a really great lesson and this lady already knows everything about the church and has read the Book of Mormon and has been to church in the past a bunch and the like but still isn't baptized. She has had quite a few hard things happen in her life and has kept the faith throughout this time. But she has quite a hard time understanding why she must suffer so much despite doing all that she could. She kept asking whether she was cursed or if she had done something to deserve all these things. Thanks to the Spirit we were able to help her understand how the Atonement can work in her life and how through baptism and this step in following Christ that she could be forgiven for the things she has done wrong in her life but also receive the peace she has been searching for so long. We even talked about some of the conditions of baptism and she is definitely willing to get baptized, we just have to help her get ready. There was much crying from her towards the latter half of the lesson but at the end when we gave her a blessing. She said that all the sadness was gone. Another testament of the power of the priesthood and the power of God which was also awesome because I had my trainee do it and even though he was struggling to speak German. The power and the influence of the Holy Ghost took effect and he gave this woman the exact help she needed. So it doesn't matter if you are the most skilled or if you don't have any skills at all the Lord will make up the rest when you are willing to act and put your trust in him. The rest of the day was spent visiting with one of our recent converts and then meeting with our ward mission leader and then having choir.

 

Wednesday, was a classic finding day with a few surprises. We did our studies as always and then I tried to make a few last minute calls to see if there was anyone who would be free to meet before we had an entire day of finding which led to a lot of people who didn't answer. Then we went outside to go and head to the train station so we could go to Spremberg another city in our area. Because we wanted to try something new. But the second we got out of our apartment we got a phone call from one of our investigators named Herr Konetzny. We basically took him over from the Sisters because they couldn't teach him without us. And they couldn't understand him either so yeah we were basically teaching him from the start. He is like most Germans that let you come and teach them. They just talk and talk and talk, it even got to a point in the lesson where he was talking about how happy he was that we could come over and talk about these things in more detail, not always the gospel, and just have a good conversation. He is a good guy and he has been coming to church for the past 6 or so weeks in a row so he is certainly on his way. We asked him to be baptized again and he is definitely thinking it over and he doesn't see any reason why not to, he is just unsure. So we hope and pray that he can get that confirmation from the Lord so he can get baptized. After that lesson we still headed over to Spremberg which was awesome! Because right when we got there it started pouring rain! Haha so we had to take cover because we went unprepared without umbrellas. But fortunately the rains quickly dispersed and then we talked with...nobody...because there was either literally nobody or the people that we did see did not want to talk to us but just before we left we talked to a young gal and she was pretty interested so we added her to the ever growing list of contacts that we have. The day ended with a phone call from the Forst Elders or more like one of the elders from Forst that had somehow lost his companion so that was interesting, he quickly found him though so that was good. And then we saw our friends from Forst, whose name is Andreas. He basically made us eat McDonalds with him at the Cottbus train station as he made lots of sneering faces at people that walked by and said lots of crazy things and even every once and a while threw his hand up in the air and tried to do a nice Nazi salute. Haha so it was naturally a great time. We eventually parted our ways but not without first having hugged my companion and kissing him slightly on the neck. haha good times.

 

I talked about too many random things so now I don't have too much time. But the rest of the week consisted of finding and English class and then heading over to Freiberg to have Zone training meeting where we threw eggs at our Zone leaders and where I basically gave my farewell testimony to the Zone. Very surreal and trippy. But once again it will of course not be the last testimony given with missionary spirit. Saturday, we had to do a bunch of planning and we got to visit some of my favorite members in the ward and eat with them. Sunday was of course great because of the Sacrament and I also had to give a lesson in the Gospel Principles class without any notice. It was about the millennium, the most random topic you could ever talk about. Haha. But it was nice and some investigators showed up to church and even a guy that we invited off the street showed up to church and said that he would come again. So all in all it was a good although we didn't meet with everyone that we wanted to.

 

Well it is that time again and I just hope you all had a great week yourselves and that you of course are getting close to the Lord as well. I love you, I pray for you and I wish you all a wonderful week!

 

Tschüss,

Elder Foster     

Wie doch die Zeit vergeht!

Ich grüße euch meine geliebte Familie und Freunde!

 

  The exciting conclusion of the chronicles of Elder Foster's Berlin Mission adventures are coming to a close. If there are any of you left out there still reading then pat yourself on the back for enduring to the end. Haha 

Anyway, this week is just another testament to the fact of how fast time goes in the last few months of your mission. Before you know it, I will be passing through the missionary veil so I have to get in as much gospel teaching in as I can get before I get back home. Except this wasn't one of those weeks as it was a transfer week meaning that there a few goodbyes and a few times where we had to watch out for and makes plans for missionaries that were arriving. And fortunately we were able to get some good new missionaries into the District. Thankfully an atmosphere of friendship was already present at the first District meeting with all the new missionaries. So I am glad for that, it makes it a lot easier when no one is left out or feels like they are less than other missionaries rather that we are friends and a team and willing and ready to help each other in whatever way at any time. 

  The week was a little bogged up because of transfers and ward conference but other than that we still had a pretty good week. This week we didn't find any new friends but we did find some really cool contacts that we can hopefully meet with in this coming week. Which isn't necessarily because most of the time the contacts turn into more solid investigators than the people who make a straight out appointment with you and then never show up and never answer their phone again which is disappointing. But it was awesome, for some reason, other than being purely helped by the Holy Ghost. I was able to apply the Gospel quite a bit more and more efficiently with the people that I talked to and best of all it was with Germans! The first was a gal named Sarah who is actually from Köln which really surprised me, and I had to ask her why she was here in Cottbus of all places when she comes from the West and also from a big city. Which is funny because people on the street also ask why we are in Cottbus of all places and here I am doing the same thing. And then the next lady's name is Janina and unfortunately she didn't have the greatest childhood and had lost some of her faith in God but then we had a really great conversation about the Atonement and the reasons there are sorrows and trials in our lives which turned out great. This is also another testament of personal study because exactly that is what I needed, I was then ready and it helped me talk to her and say exactly what she needed to hear through the Spirit. The third person's name is Phil, who is actually originally from Spremberg which is not too far away from Cottbus and I think for the first time I met someone who was religious despite being raised in a home of Atheist parents. Interesting story, he came to his beliefs from watching a Bible channel on TV and from listening to preachers from L.A. or something but that was awesome and we are definitely going to meet up with him in the future. 

   We also had a nice little experience with a member family in our ward this week. It was Saturday and it was hot and as always for some weird reason everybody in the city of Cottbus decides to leave. So there was no one on the streets to talk to, nobody was home, we couldn't contact anybody, and nobody answered their phones or they were in another city. So we decided to stop at this family's house that was nearby and see if we couldn't try and help them to do some of their own missionary work and maybe also to just get out of the heat for a little bit which worked haha. They gave us some ice cream and some water. And then we were talking and unfortunately we were only there for like 20 minutes because we came at a really inconvenient time....meaning that the Germany vs. Hungary game was going to begin real soon. Haha but it was awesome because in that short time we heard the husbands conversion story and then it really clicked for me because in his testimony the week before he talked about the fact that he gives out 2 to 3 Book of Mormons each year to people he knows and is actually how he got converted was through a Book of Mormon.  One had been gifted to his mom when he was a lot younger and simply through the power of the Book of Mormon, he was converted to the Gospel. That was awesome and he offered to help us out with by being a joint teach in the near future so that was nice. So it was a nice little visit.       

Anyway, those were some of the high points of my week. I hope you all had an enriching week yourselves. I love you and I pray for you! 

Tschüss,

Elder Foster

Das letzte Abenteurer beginnt.

Hallo hallo meine Schätze!

      Well well well this is it ladies and gentlemen. The last transfer of my mission before I put the badge down and become a normal member missionary. Oh yeah and by the way we got our transfer calls and I will be staying in Cottbus! Woo! The die is cast. And my fate has been sealed. I will be dying in Cottbus, which is where my aunt also ended her mission many years ago and I am still training which means I will be dying just like my two trainers did with me. Isn't it crazy how the Lord leads and guides you without you really knowing it. Preparing you for things to come and you don't even realize it. I honestly don't really know how to feel right now other than extreme confusion. There is so much to do. There is also the moment where you think back on your entire mission and you have to ask yourself the question whether you have done that what you were called to do. If you did the things the Lord needed you to do, if you filled that role as one of his servants. It is definitely a sobering moment, and I only hope that I have pleased him and that I can continue to do so and not fall into a state of indifference when I get back and still have the same joy and the same fiery passion for the gospel. Studying in the scriptures has truly become a saving grace for me. And without those words of comfort without those answers that I would always find there and in the words of the prophets. I don't know if I would've lasted very long as a missionary. I am very grateful that they are very much a part of my thinking process now. Now if there is ever a problem of a question that I have the words of Nephi as he says, "Angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, they speak the words of Christ.Wherefore, I said unto you, feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do." I am constantly reminded of where I need to go to get my answers, otherwise I would honestly probably forget. There are many many things I could talk about that I have learned and that I have experienced that I am so grateful for. There are so many friends that I wish that I could bring back with me. And there are so many friends that I have yet to make. There is never enough time!

      Unfortunately this week was one of those weeks where all the appointments that you make, fall out. And you can't contact any of the new people that you have recently met with. But either way it was still a pretty decent week although not as much happened as I wanted to. And the clock ticks away and the it is all too apparent that time is running out. Not that it really feels like I am leaving or that in a few short weeks I will be done. That doesn't feel real at all.

      We did however have a chance to make a trip to Leipzig and have a Zone-Conference there with a few other zones and our mission president and a seventy. That was good and the last little bit reminded me of the zone conferences that I would have with President Kosak, not that they are bad now or anything they are just missing a certain measure of spiritual nourishment rather than just always working on this or that. They should feel like mini-general conferences for missionaries not an extended version of a zone-training-meeting, not that I am entirely sure if many of you know what I mean by that. Afterwards we got to spend a little time in Leipzig because we missed our first train and the next one to Cottbus didn't come for two hours. So that was nice to do a little tour of Leipzig because Cottbus has its pretty spots but the rest of it is kind of... Socialist/Communist? Haha not sure how to describe it.

      Oh yeah I also forgot to mention that last Monday we as a district went to a little lake here in Cottbus together. Of course we weren't able to swim but we had a nice time and even one of our investigators showed up so it was just a nice chill little p-day and we didn't have to wear our nice clothes in the hot weather for once.      Anyways sorry if this is a short letter. My mind is little out there haha. But no worries all is well! I wish you all a wonderful week and I pray for you and of course I still love you!

Tschüss,

Elder Foster