One week from July...

Well, I don't know what to say about this week really. I was hard, really hard. I am still grateful, however, for the wonderful blessings which I did notice. This week, not much went according to plan, if anything. All of our appointments dropped. Except one, with Nicole and Bastian, which was a blast as always. 

I don't know if I have talked about them at all, Nicole is American and was baptized into the church when she was 9 her mom was a member, but not completely active and Nicole has actually not come to church most of her life. She has had contact with missionaries at time through her life. Which is a bit of a problem, because having come to church off and on, she has heard (sadly) a lot of deep doctrine, which happened before she learned basics which is what caused her to stop having a desire to come to church. 

That was a long time ago (back when she was in college (OK, so not so long ago maybe like 8-10 years ago)) so as we meet with her all she can recall is small (and I mean SMALL) pieces of deep doctrine which causes her have questions to no end. Ones that can be really difficult to answer, at least without immense scripture references and good explanations. But sitting answering questions with no direction is a complete waste of time. So we have been taking the typical missionary lessons, and tie them back to the questions, and answer them. Anyway, that is what we do with her. 

Bastian (he is the coolest) is German, and comes with her to support her. As of right now he (or so they say) is only there to support her and has no interest, but I see it every now and again that he is taking a bit of interest in what we say. Its fun to be with them, its always a good meeting. 

Nicole LOVES to read and has an immense collection of books, when meeting with her last time the thought came to me that I should get her a copy of Jesus the Christ (I LOVE THAT BOOK) So I was going to order her one, but then on Tuesday at District Meeting Sister Hunsaker came up to me with a copy.  She said that this past week she had thought about Nicole and the thought came to her that she should get her a copy of Jesus the Christ. So she did, and gave it to me to give to Nicole. :-)  Pure Inspiration. But that will be a huge help, because Nicole's questions often go into deep doctrine, which one usually learns by a reading the scriptures, church literature, and coming to church over a period of several years. Jesus the Christ is an incredible book that covers so many topics, it will essentially answer most of her questions, and we can focus around a faith centered testimony. I am excited to meet with her again. 

We had a fun adventure this week, Our Carbon Monoxide alarm went off at 1 in the morning. That's always fun to wake up to. I jumped out of bed, grabbed the alarm and took out the batteries (IT IS INCREDIBLY LOUD), so that it wouldn't wake the neighbors. Then I realized what alarm it was and got really confused, because all the windows in the apartment were open and the fans were running, I put the batteries back in and the alarm registered everything as normal. Weird... but I called the AP's and they came and got us anyway and took us to their apartment while we let ours air out (the windows were only part way open, and so we opened them all the way) and left. Better safe then sorry. I had to drag Elders Thomas and Mochon out of the apartment though, they weren't exactly willing to wake up and leave... But yeah, that was fun, riding in a car back to the mission office at 1:15 or so in the morning. Then at 7 they drove us back (we played soccer with them, the Zone leaders and the Office Elders at 6 am) and everything has since been fine. We are pretty sure it was a false alarm, 1) because it was mounted incorrectly nearly on the ceiling in a corner, and 2) it was INCREDIBLY Humid during those few days, which is also known to trigger false alarms. 

We spend a whole day this week back in Deggendorf doing demolition on a house. :-) Sadly it wasn't as fun as it sounds, since germany doesn't believe in Sheet rock all the walls are made of morter-plaster covered brick walls, and our job was to remove all the  morter-plaster. So we took sledge hammers to the walls to remove the plaster, but hitting the wall over and over again really kills your hands... but we did it! And we were able to help clean up a lot of things as well which was good. :-) I got to rip out a door frame however, and THAT was fun. :-) 

Other than that it was a hard week, all of our appointments fell out, and spending hours out speaking with people didn't yield anything. Which is actually, though it may sound at first a bit strange,  wonderful. I have received far more insight and understanding from one really hard week, then I ever have from 10  good weeks. It is always a humble reminder whose work this is, and who really is in charge. The scripture in Isaiah 10:15 comes to mind as well as Alma 26:22. 

Isaiah 10:15 reads: Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith? or shall the saw magnify itself against him that shaketh it? as if the rod should shake itself against them that lift it up, or as if the staff should lift up itself, as if it were no wood.

Alma 26:22 reads: Yea, he that repenteth and exerciseth faith, and bringeth forth good works, and prayeth continually without ceasing--unto such it is given to know the mysteries of God; yea, unto such it shall be given to reveal things which never have been revealed; yea, and it shall be given unto such to bring thousands of souls to repentance, even as it has been given unto us to bring theses our brethren to repentance.

Its something that I always try and acknowledge, that I am but an instrument in Gods hands, that it is His work, not mine. But having a gentle reminder every now and again is good. I don't necessarily like it however ;-). 

But I have come to understand it as a process of learning, and not of punishment or anything of the like. It's caused me to reflect a lot more on the life of my Savior, how He much have felt during those times when He would try to help people and they rejected Him. They wouldn't listen to Him. How much sorrow He must have felt when they didn't listen or when people did do that which would truly bring them happiness. How could I, being His servant and trying to follow Him, expect to go about doing this work and not have some of the same sorrows and trials which He Himself had?

In my studies of Isaiah I was led to Isaiah 50:4-9. 

4 The Lord God hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned.

5 The Lord God hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back

6 I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting.

7 For the Lord God will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded: Therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed.

8 He is near that justifieth me; who will contend with me? let us stand together: who is mine adversary? let him come near to me.

9 Behold, the Lord God will help me; who is he that shall condemn me? lo, they all shall wax old as a garment; the moth shall eat them up.

It isn't a coincidence that I happened to read this passage of scripture this week in my studies. It had a huge impact on me. With the week the way it was, I understand and appreciate this scripture so much more, I can't by any means compare, and nothing was that bad this week, but it helped me gain that much more of an understanding of Jesus Christ, and have a greater appreciation for what He did. For that I am incredibly grateful. And as a servant of Him, alot of the things mentioned in there apply to me "the Lord God will help me". I love that phrase. 

We hope that this week will shape up to be better than the last week. We were unsuccessful in arranging appointments for last week, but we were able to a bit for this week. So we will see. 

I am so grateful for the chance to serve a mission here, even though it is hard at times. I have learned so much, and gained so much insight through it. I have seen so many wonderful blessings during this time. And I am looking forward to many more. :-)

I wish you all a great week!

love,

Elder Ryan K. Christensen