I don't have today too much time, but there are a couple of
miracles which I wish to mention.
But before I do, I want to say that I feel like a
Jerk, I made a joke last week about the rains and no flooding, and I had ABSOLUTELY
NO IDEA that there was actually flooding going on. Then that night I went to
eat dinner with Clark, a member of the ward. When we arrived (the Office
Elders and us) the TV was on and I saw news footage of Passau, and I was blown
away near the river they were up to nearly their waste in Water.
The Sisters
lived right on the river... But here is a miracle, the area was scheduled to
get new missionaries, Elders, and a new apartment was bought, because the new
one was nicer, it was decided that the Sisters move there, and the branch would
fix up the old one for the Elders. When flooding began, the branch there
gathered together and moved the sisters to the new apartment ( safe from the
flooding) that very day. Power and water in the whole city went out, but the
branch members brought the sisters bottled water daily so that they could make
it through. They are just fine.
Munich didn't really have any problems only
only on the far outer reachers near the river. So all the missionaries are ok,
but in the areas effected the missionaries have been helping out.
Which brings me to one of my miracles. There was a family in
Munich 2 whose basement flooded (COMPLETELY). The water reached to the second
from the top step leading down to the basement. But sadly they had an even
worse problem, they had a heater that used oil, and it had a tank of over 400
liters (over 110 Gallons) of oil, which ruptured... ruining everything in the
basement. Because it was Mission Leadership council, sets of missionaries
in that ward were unable to help. And long story short the only missionaries
that could were us and the Kaufbeuren Elders.
So we prepare to go out to
Olching, in our service clothes. We got out there and waited by the bus stop
when I noticed that my wallet was not in my back pocket. With out a doubt I had
it when I left the apartment, but on the train ride there, it slipped out of my
pocket and was still in the train. I had an overwhelming feeling of panic,
because that had everything in it, Credit Cards, Visas (living permit, not the
credit card ;-) ), Drivers License etc. As well as a large sum of
cash roughly 250 Euro worth.
Which sounds a bit crazy, but the grocery store
that we go too doesn't except Visa (the credit Card), and in order to reduce
ATM fees, we pull the money out all at once. And my Credit Card hasn't worked
for some weird reason at all at any store, so I pulled money out from an ATM so
that I could get some supplies on the coming P-day.
And I had never once had a
problem before losing my wallet, or having it fall out of my pocket before, so
I didn't worry about losing it. Now one thing I am incredibly grateful for was
that I lost it here in Germany. The German people are INCREDIBLY honest, and I
will show you that in a bit, but they don't steal. Which is why when you come
here, that stores usually put items (sometimes really expensive) out in front
that would be really easy to take, and no one is there to watch them.
Why? Because Germans don't steal. People of other ethnic backgrounds... that is
a different story but Germans don't.
Anyway. I have this overwhelming feeling
of panic. But I calmed myself quickly and called the office and asked what the
process was now that I had lost my wallet. I knew there was a number that I
could call, so I had them look it up for me. But while I was waiting for them
to look it up, I decided that we would still do the service anyway.
We show up,
and man it was bad. Because of the oil, everything was ruined. Everything that
was down there had to be thrown away. So we spent time hauling things from the
basement to the front yard to dispose of. There wasn't enough protective shoe
coverings to go around, so I never went all the way down. But a midst the
service I was making calls a lot, calling and alerting various lost and founds
throughout Munich and DB (German train service). As well as getting the
information from my new Credit card which arrived that day.
Before the service
project began, I found some time and went and knelt down and prayed that
everything would be ok, and that my wallet would fall into the hands of someone
that would take care of it. Even if the cash was gone, I was praying to get it
back with everything else in it. The interesting thing was after calming myself
originally at the train station I didn't really care overall that much that my
wallet was gone. And I didn't know why. I told heavenly Father that I didn't
know why I wasn't really worried, but that I really did care and want my wallet
back ;-).
Anyway, so we start with the service and it takes a long time. 4 or 5
hours to clear everything out. We also helped some their neighbor who needed to
take their fridge and a water filled washer up the winding stair case out to
the lawn (THAT WAS TERRIBLE). But it allowed us to start talking with the neighbors
a bit and I was able to tell them what we as missionaries are here for. It was
cool. :-)
Anyway through the whole time I am not really worrying too much about
my wallet, which is really bugging me. Why don't I care? I could have just lost
250 Euro with all my other things and I don't feel anything. After I called all
the lost and founds and everywhere I could think. NOTHING. No wallets had been
returned in that day (this being at 4 or so and most lost and found locations
are closing) I then took the time and got down on my knees and prayed some
more. Because I have already had a large number of experiences (more than I
probably ought to have... ;-)) of losing valuable things, praying, and getting
them back against the most unlikely of circumstances. I can honestly say
that I knew my prayer would be heard and answered. And after ending
the prayer I received the confirmation that someone who would take care of it
had it, and that I would get my wallet back with all the money in it.
Ok. But the day wasn't over we still had things to do. We
needed to study still, and then we were invited to dinner from some members,
after which we were going to spend 30 minutes making phone calls to organize
Joint teaches with members and schedule more appointments with other
investigators. But leaving for the appointment and all of my fear was gone. I
knew it was just a matter of time, be it a day, a week, whatever. And I would
get my wallet back. It wasn't likely anymore to retrieve it that day, because
everything was closed. But I felt strongly that I would get it back. I also
became aware that the Elder and Sister Hunsaker, as well as Sister Sonumura and
Sister Holmgren had both prayed, and were continually praying that things would
go well, which meant a lot for me.
Anyway. So we go to the appointment, have a
great time, leave a nice spiritual thought and head back home, just like we had
planned. We got back and we started calling people. While Elder Evans was on
the phone there was a knock at our door, I answered it. It was a lady that
lived a few doors down, and in her hand was a piece of paper. She told me,
"You will want to call the police in Olching, they have your wallet".
Stunned and super excited I said thanks shut the door. And immediately went
into the other room and said a prayer of utmost thanks.
I called the police in Olching and they confirmed that it was mine and confirmed that all the money
was still in there. They gave me the phone number of the lady that found my
wallet and I called her. She is amazing. She saw my wallet went and grabbed it,
noticed that there was a lot of money and things in there, she told me that
like hers, she has EVERYTHING in it. And she thought "oh no, if this was
me, I would want it back as quickly as possible, and to know that it is
safe". But she was incredibly busy that day with work meetings. After she
finished with that she called around to the lost and founds in Munich which
were all closed.
So she drove home to Olching, went to the police station and
WAITED AN HOUR AND A HALF in line before she could turn my wallet in. She also
made sure that the police were going to do everything they could to let me know
that it was safe that night. They did, and the next day I was able to go and
pick it up. I thanked her so much for all that she did, and told her that I had
been praying for someone like her to find it.
But it is another story that I
can add to my already existing testimony that God does here and answer prayers,
and It doesn't matter how unlikely something seems, God still works miracles
today just like at any other time in the worlds history. Big things and small
things. Overall, even if I had lost it, it wouldn't have been to big of a deal,
in the long run many years from now it would really have mattered whether I had
my wallet or not. But the experience of a prayer being answered is something
that I won't ever forget. I could tell many more stories about prayers being
answered in a likewise manner, but I don't have time. But God really does hear
and answer prayers. He loves us each individually, and everything that is
important to us is important to Him. I know that, I know it with a stronger
assuredly that I ever have. :-)
Meanwhile back in Utah, the family was on vacation in St. George. Kelly received a phone call from an Elder in the Mission office saying that everything was ok now and to ignore the voicemail left on our home phone. Since we were not home to get the phone message, he asked what was happening. The Elder informed us that the wallet had been lost, and that they left us a message (at 1:50am) asking us to cancel all the cards to protect his personal funds. The Elder told us that the wallet had been found, and that his new credit card we mailed to the mission office was now active and working. They told us that Elder Christensen was doing well and apologized for losing his wallet, and that he loved us. We told him to relay to Elder Christensen that we would still love him even if he lost his wallet :). He also told us that they were safe from the flooding and that they only had to relocate one set of missionaries (likely the Sisters mentioned above). The Elder had a really cool German accent.
I have since realized that for some reason, when I wear my
jeans that this particular wallet likes to fall out... So for the next service
project I will be keeping it in my backpack :-)
On others news, we got transfer calls yesterday. To my
surprise Elder Evans is going to Augsburg and I am staying. My new companion
will be Elder Curtis, who has only been out for a few months. He is from Idaho,
I think. Not fully sure, but I am excited! Elder Helbig is also going, he will
be heading to Wiener Neustadt. Elder Thomas' new companion is also really
young, it will be his 5th transfer. That is so weird, I am the oldest in the
apartment by FAR. Elder Thomas will be in his 3rd transfer, Elder Curtis will
be in his 4th, and Elder Thomas' companion (I forget the name) with be in his
5th. And then there is me in my 13th... Good thing I am not superstitious, because
my 13th Transfer officially begins June 13th of 2013... ;-) Good thing it isn't
a Friday... :-)
Another cool thing was that Elder Nelson came and had a
special meeting yesterday with our stake, it was a really neat meeting, and he
bore his testimony in German. That was cool. And his accent and grammer were
also really good. But I am way excited for June 23, because aparently there
will be a world wide broadcast, at which there will be an announcement made
that will "revolutionize missionary work forever". That came from the
mouth of Elder Nelson I am way excited!!! Granted, I am a bit sad that this is
all happening now when I won't get to enjoy it too much longer, But all the new
missionaries better darn well make use of it!!! :-)
Anyway, I need to go now, but I wish you all a great week.
Sadly my time is up, but things are going well here. I am safe, the flooding
looks like it is coming to an end. I will actually be in Passau on Friday to
help out with that. I am excited. Things are going well.
Take Care!
love,
Elder Ryan K. Christensen
Kelly received a nice Father's day email from Ryan that included the pictures below. Ryan offered to have Kelly and him fly back to Germany next year for a test drive on the autobahn for only 140 Euros. He will need to start saving.....
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