Well, another week has now come to a close. It was a rough
week, good but at times rough. Every single appointment this week fell, not
sparing even one. But, the Lord truly have a plan for us this week which we
were unaware of.
So to start it off, it truly begins Wednesday, We were FULL.
It was going to be a good day. Then around 10 or so we get a a few phone calls
and everything falls out, we went from being completely booked out to
completely free day. I sat on our couch a bit frustrated and sad. WHY?! I thought,
surely we couldn't have two weeks in a row like this. I was sad and I didn't
understand why this was happening. But God truly loves me so incredible, 1)
because I didn't have to wait long for the answer and 2) because of what
happened.
So only a few minutes after everything falling out (enough time to accept what had happened and make plans to fill the free day), I get a phone
call from Tenzin (have I told you about him before?) with whom we hadn't been
able to meet in a long time. Tenzin is from Tibet and was originally found by
the sisters of Munich 2, and then later by us going door to door. So we both
knew him, and because he was English speaking we were planning on teaching him.
He knows the church is true and has a very good understanding that he needs to
get baptized, and he wants to, however he wants to wait for his wife. When he
first started talking to members of Christian religions his wife wouldn't speak
to him for a week. But slowly he has been working with her, to the point where she
now is OK that he meets with Christian people, but he still wants to take
is slow for her sake.
Anyway, he gives us a call and says that he is helping a
friend move out, and this friend is giving him some furniture, and he needs
help moving it to his apartment that day. He reassured us that it was going to
be easy, perhaps lasting no longer than an hour or so. Cool, despite how long
it was going to last, Elder Curtis and I both felt better switching into
service clothes rather than doing it in a shirt and tie (which I have on
occasion done). We meet up, and go to his friends house. It turns out that his
friend is a somewhat famous German actor. Ralph Bauer. Famous enough that he
has a Jaguar (the car sponsorship, and the name on the doorbell was "Pegasus" so that he didn't have a ton of people come and ring his doorbell. :-)
Ralph
lived at the top of "Mini Everest" as Tenzin called it, at the top of
a 6 story building WITH NO ELEVATOR. We hike to the top and start helping take
things back down. 2 book shelves, and large floor cabinet and a bed. ABSOLUTELY
MISERABLE. Taking heavy objects around a winding staircase down to the trailer,
and then running back up the stairs to the top of the 6th floor to do it again!
(remember what I said about stairs, back when I was in Esslingen? Yeah, God
truly does have a sense of Humor...)
It was just us, Tenzin and Ralph, so it
took a couple hours (Ralph also fed us some food as well). Then we have to
take it with Ralphs car over to Tenzin (on the opposite side of the city)
Ralph has a Jaguar sponsorship, however his Jaguar doesn't have a trailer hitch
so he went to BMW and picked up a car with a trailer hitch. A BMW M-SERIES
SPORTS WAGON. Top of the line. And I got to ride in the front seat!!! Oh man, that
was such a nice car.
So we get to Tenzin's house, and unload. But, there was
still somethings that we need to bring (the trailer wasn't big enough to fit
everything). So we drive in the really nice sports car back to Mini Everest,
hike to the top, dissemble the large cabinets that were coming next (they
weren't big enough to take in one piece) and then take them down piece by
piece. Tenzin had some Tibet-ten friends there now, so it didn't take as long.
Then we get all the things back to Tenzin's house and have dinner with him, his
wife, Ralph and some of the other Tibet-tens. It was good, and we got a chance
throughout the whole day to be around Tenzin's wife and family. And because I
had dissembled the cabinets and knew how to reassemble them (and because a few
other appointments fell out), we came back a few days later and reassembled all
the shelves and things and then had lunch with his wife and him. THAT was cool.
He made what I will call Tibet-ten Spaghetti. I figured out how he made it and I
can make it now! It is very similar to normal Italian Spaghetti Bolognese, but
It has some Ginger and Cilantro, which make it taste different, and when you
add some really spicy chili sauce, it is REALLY good.
Tenzin was incredibly busy for 5 weeks before this happened,
so neither the sisters nor us, could contact him. But this week, God cleared out
our schedule a bit so that we could spend a significant amount of time with him
and his wife, to help us to gain her trust. I got to have amazing food, drive
in an incredible sports car, get to know and become friends with a famous
German actor, who has a heart of Gold, and get a good work out ;-). Ralph is
truly incredible though. He is famous, and Car makers let him drive any car he
wants, but he isn't arrogant or cocky, quite the opposite, he is incredibly
humble.
I found out later from Tenzin, that one time he was paid a large sum of
money for something, and he took that money, went to a remote part of Tibet
and used the money to repair all the roads and update the water systems so the
people there could have fresh drinking water. Not for any publicity reasons, or
anything other then helping out the people there (Tenzin's Wife is from that
part which is why he went there). He has done an incredible amount of things
for Tenzin and other Tibet-tens here. He moved yesterday to Baden Baden (I
love to say that) but is coming back to go with Tenzin to an Interview which
will begin the process of him opening up a museum here in Munich.
Along with that, because other appointments fell out, we
were able to schedule other appointments and I was able to do a 1/2 exchange
with Elder Müller which was awesome. As a district leader in this district, I
don't get to do any Exchanges except with the Zone Leaders, because the office
staff work all day in the office, and then there are AP's and Sisters. AP's are
already busy enough as it is, and the sisters... well that's obvious why that
wouldn't work. :-)
But Elder Müller and I went out past Augsburg a ways so that
I could give one of their investigators a Baptismal Interview. That was a neat
experience for me. I felt the impressions of the spirit strongly, and
highlighted, as I was prompted to ask things in a certain way. I am grateful
for that spirit which directed me that this specific person, though he seem
ready, actually needed a bit more time. The bishop of the ward actually got a
chance to talk with him a bit, and knowing that I had interviewed him, pulled
me aside into a room to talk with me about him for a minute, we had the same
prompting and the baptism has been pushed back a couple of weeks. That was a
neat experience for me, having never done that before I was a bit nervous, but
the spirit was there and it turns out that there were some misunderstandings
when it came to commandments... I wouldn't have come out any other way had I
not had the Spirit with me. That really taught me a lot gaining the experience
that I am not alone, and that when I pray and strive for it the Spirit will
direct me and I need not be nervous because God is leading me and won't let me
make a mistake (as long as I am humble and seeking the spirit).
The week didn't turn out the way that we had planned, but It
was still overall a really good week. A long week, and there were hard times,
but overall with everything else that happend it went well. Tenzin came to
Church, as well as Brother Gardiner, who finally brought his wife and kids, and
we met with them that night. :-) But there was an appointment in that spot, so
God cancelled it for us so that we could meet with Brother Gardiner and his
wife and kids and have a great experience. :-)
I am grateful that the God is truly leading this work and
that things go according to his plan, and not mine. :-) I am grateful for the
spiritual promptings that we can recieve because of our callings and that God
won't give us anything that we can't handle. Its wonderful to be here and to
get to do this! I am loving it, It truly is an incredible work! The Broadcast
was INCREDIBLE! Due to a weird schedule I got to watch the first half on Monday
night, and the second half on Sunday. But I loved it!
I wish you all a great week!
Love,
Elder Ryan K. Christensen
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