Well. Yeah the title says it all. This week was GREAT.
Nothing fell out. And it set up for the new transfer beautifully. Tuesday was
probably one of the best days in my whole mission. Hands down. Finally after an
entire transfer of nothing but dropped appointments and frustrations, we had a
solid week.
But first I will tell you about Transfer calls. I am
transferred. I won't get to remain in the ward any longer. But...
I AM GOING BACK TO THE
DORNBIRN DISTRICT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I will be in RAVENSBURG!!!!!!!!!!!! I AM GOING BACK!!
I have been there several times on Exchange, and I know it
well, better yet, I will be the district leader and get to return to Dornbirn
on exchange!! I AM GOING BACK TO THE MOST BEAUTIFUL PLACE IN THE WORLD!!! Plus,
every other week will have district meeting and finding day back in that area. I
AM SO HAPPY. I thought that I would never get a chance to return, it was just a
dream, but now it will be reality!!! So many good memories from back in
that district and area. Ravensburg is a small branch of about 20 people. Elder
Buchanan is serving as the branch president there currently. It will be rough,
it was a car area originally, but when the Ehepaar came we gave the car to
them. (Being in a car area means the public transit isn't really really not
good (if it was only "really not good" then it would be a bike area
;-) ). But I hear that the Buchanans drive us around a lot.
So yeah, I nearly cried for 2 reasons on that phone call, 1)
because I must leave, and 2 because I get to go back to my favorite place on
that planet. I love Ravensburg, and Dornbirn. I will be in a Dritt (a
three-sum? I don't know how you would call it in English) down there,
which means I will have 2 companions, both of whom are fairly new. One just
finished being trained, and the other one is just one transfer older than the
first mentioned. I don't know much more than that. President Miles told me the
names, then later called the office to ask them again, and they told me
another name. Essentially the only thing I am certain of, is that one of my two
companions is Elder Wasden, from Hawaii who just finished his training. :-) But
there is another miracle about me going to this specific place, which I will
mention after I talk about Tuesday.
So Tuesday. One of the best days ever. First there was
district Meeting, which is good, despite being planned by me, it all went
really well ;-). After that, we had a special appointment, Martin Lauer, who I
got to meet with in Wien, was traveling with his brother and stopped here in
Munich to say hi to me, and so that we could show his brother the church!! That
was way cool that he would stop here in Munich to meet with me.
We had a great
time, and had a really good lesson with his brother. Being used to getting a
lot of questions, I asked if either of them had questions. Martin turned to me
and said something to the effect " I only have one, will you come back to
Wien and baptize me in November?" I was stunned and was so happy, that he
would ask me to have that honor.
Mission rules will allow me to return and
perform the ordinance, so I was able to except the offer!! Now here is the true
miracle, being transferred to Ravensburg (which will presumably be my very
last area) I am only 35 minutes away from Austria. Train fare in Austria is
really cheap with a Vorteils card (a savings card so to say, it makes all
tickets half price (it only is good for people under 26 though)). Mine was
supposed to expire about a month ago, but before I left Wien, I renewed it.
But, the mission will cover travel expenses (and allow you to go) if the cost
of travel for you and your companion is less than 200 Euro there and back.
Being in Ravensburg, going to Wien and back for my companion and I will cost
well less than 200 euro. Which means that being there (as opposed to being in
Stuttgart or somewhere else) will allow me to return to Wien!!
Granted, because
I was asked to perform the baptism, I could have probably got permission to
return anyway, but now it's guaranteed!!!! That really means a lot to me. And
it really has shown me how much God really does love us and cares about even
the small details. I really wanted to be able to go back for that baptism, and
God has prepared away for that too happen. :-) That is was a huge miracle and
blessing!
So yes, I am sad to go, but of all places which God could
have sent me, I am going to the best place I could possibly go to. I was only
in Esslingen for 11 weeks, and because I learned so much down in Dornbirn and
was in that district for so long. I essentially consider that the beginning
of my mission. A lot of firsts happened there, so its nearly like ending my
mission where I began it. :-) In zone Conferences you only bear your testimony
for your first and your last. My first one was there in that district (our
mission just got a new Zone, so I am not in the Sankt Gallen Zone anymore) and
my last one will be as well. Its Pretty cool!
Anyway, Later on that night on Tuesday we finally were able
to meet with Charles, and long story short, we set a baptismal date with him!
And because the rest of the week worked out like it did, after I leave (and
Elder Curtis will be training a new missionary). They should be able to set
baptismal dates with 3 other people! (If not more, this coming week could be a
spectacular week here). Which makes me really happy, I won't be here for it,
and even though this entire transfer was really hard, we were able to finally
have things work out, and put the area in a really good condition just before I
leave. :-)
So yeah, things went well this week, I and I am excited to
go. Yesterday was hard, Clark Itama came up to me nearly with tears in his eyes
and said that he would miss me a lot and that I was a good missionary. I think
I got the biggest hug from anyone from him yesterday. :-) I am going to miss
him, he is a really good guy. And a few other ward members as well I will miss.
I was asked to give a talk yesterday, which I found out standing up there that
the talk as I had it planned could have gone a lot longer, and because I was
already short on time, I had to cut it down rapidly and I was afraid that I
didn't do well because I couldn't connect the points well enough. I had less
than 10 minutes and getting up there I realized that I had enough prepared to
talk for 20 or more minutes... But a lot of people seemed to like it.
Not having a computer, the talk is hand written, but I
essentially spoke on Integrity, and compared it to building a temple, and its
structural integrity, how they are designed to withstand anything that could
pose a hazard to it. Then compared that to our lives being patterned after
Christ, so to speak building our own temples and that we need our own integrity
to withstand anything. God is merciful, so he allows for us to be tempted and
tried to see where are integrity is weak and could be improved, I quoted Ether
12:27 and tied it to Alma 13:28 and talked about how we need to constantly
watch and pray and read the scriptures for those promises to actually take
effect. That was pretty much my talk in a nut shell. I also managed to throw in
the story of the three little pigs in there ;-) ( House of straw, twigs and brick...
the brick had good structural integrity ;-)).
On a different note, with this past transfer, past few
actually, I have had the chance to reflect back over my mission, and over about
where I thought I would be now and things like that. It highlighted some of my
weaknesses that I have been trying to overcome for a long while, and it was
frustrating to me. I had the chance to read my patriarchal blessing and write
down thoughts over it, and though I have it mostly memorized, 4 words stuck out
to me, which had an immense impact on me. With everything going, many things
being on my mind, and being frustrated at the lack of my ability to overcome my
own weaknesses, (In reference to the Lord ) I read "He knows your
circumstances".
You won't ever quite realize how much that meant to me,
right in that moment. I felt in that moment so much love and peace like I
hadn't quite felt before. He knows everything, how I am feeling, what I am
trying to do, what I want to do, my frustrations, fears and all other things.
And he is there with me. Through everything. No one else will know what I am
going through, but He does. And I want to add my testimony of that to you, that
now matter where we are, or what we are going through, I know that God knows our circumstances, and loves us so very much. He is there, and He will guide us
through our hard times as we put our faith and trust in him (Proverbs
3:5-6).
With that, I will wish you a wonderful week!
Love,
Elder Ryan K. Christensen
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