Well, I don't know exactly where to begin. This week was
actually really good. That being said, nothing actually went to plan however.
:-) But that is alright. We had 9 appointments fall out on us this week, but we
did keep 4 so, I can't complain. :-) And we saw some neat miracles.
Tuesday was the first miracle, we had district meeting in
Dornbirn, which went well, had a great lunch and drove back. The plan was to
have 2 teaching appointments and then meet with a less active that night. Well
we get back only to have both of the first appointments cancel on us. So we
decided to bike out to Baienfurt, a city in which we had a few potentials which
was a good 7 or 8 Kilometers away. That was good, we went by on all of them.
All but 1 answered and all but 1 had no interest... :-( But we went to the last
one (the one who ended up not being home) and as we were about ready to ride
away (being a little bit down in spirit) her neighbor walked outside and
started talking to us.
He claimed to know everything about the church and went
off saying some things that were mostly true about the church, but not
completely. He at first didn't seem interested at all but then we talked to him
some more and made an appointment for the following day, as we were leaving he
asked us "could you imagine that I actually used to be a member of your
church?". He told us that he met with the missionaries over 40 years ago
and was baptized. I asked him why he left and he said we would discuss it the
next day. That was neat, had our appointments not fallen out, had we not been
turned down by all the others and just happen to arrive at the perfect time to
meet Lother, then we would have never met him.
We then rode back to Ravensburg,
and walked out to visit a less active member with whom we had an appointment.
On the way we talked to a few people on the street, and found someone who used
to meet with the missionaries and was almost baptized, but couldn't give up
drinking. We will be meeting with him tonight. Then just as we were about to go
knock on the door of Marcel, Elder Wasden said " I have a feeling that we
need to walk over that way" We were early, and had time so we did. We
walked across the street and walked past a house and I started talking to a man
sitting on his front porch. We talked for a bit about Jesus Christ and the
gospel, and he invited us back the next day at 7 pm to meet with him and talk
more.
Then we went to Marcel's and had a fun conversation. :-) He played
football for awhile for the Ravensburg Razorbacks, and because Elder Wasden and
I had also played football, that was pretty much the whole conversation. We got
to know him well and it was a lot of fun, and at the end he asked us if we
could come back and visit him again, which is neat because before he wasn't all
that excited, so to speak, about meeting with missionaries.
Wednesday, the appointment with Lothar fell out and was
rescheduled for the following day, and later that night we went to Herr Guth (the man that we found) and he wasn't there. But on the way there I had a strong
feeling to go knock on some doors at the house across the street. So we did,
and the third person that answered was a Russian lady, who was waiting for her
daughter, but hearing the voices (THAT WERE DEFINITELY NOT HER DAUGHTER ;-))
She came to the door and started talking with us. Long story short she is
searching for a new apartment and was worried how, when she found the new
apartment, she would get everything moved, she had help last time but she
wouldn't this time. When we talked to her, one of the first things that we
said, after we mentioned who we were, and what church we were from, told her
that we go around and help people through service, garden work, moving etc. Her
face all of the sudden lit up and she was absolutely THRILLED when we told her
that we would help her move, and knew others who would be willing to help as
well. That was a HUGE MIRACLE.
We later got a hold of Herr Guth, who didn't
really remember us at all, and didn't want to meet with anyone of any christian
church at all (he was even a bit rude to us about it...). But had we not found
him, and came back to at 7 pm. Then we would have never met her. (She works
nearly everyday, and had we even been 5 minutes later, she would have been
gone). And we will help her move when she finds a new apartment. And we have a
few Russian members of the ward, who she would probably love to meet, and I
think we may have a chance to introduce her to the church a bit through service
and members. :-) That was neat.
Thursday we spent with the Buchanans visiting potentials and
less actives in Tettnang and Friedrichshafen/Markdorf. We were able to contact
some less actives who never were contacted before! That was neat. We also got a
hold of the Kunz Family and made an appointment for tomorrow night at 7. :-)
Friday was great. It was the only day which we didn't lose
all our appointments. We met with Justice and Christine, and Mary, as
well as had weekly planning. Later that night the Buchanans offered to cook us
dinner and have a planning session (we usually have a planning session with
them on Friday nights to co-ordinate the work for the week). But we both felt
that we needed to visit some people. We did, to no success. But we made it back
to our apartment at 7.56 pm 4 minutes before we had planned to have language
study. So we decided to use the 4 minutes and talk to some people. I prayed for
a miracle.
The first 2 people we talked to, had no interest. But on the 3rd time
we talked to two Africans who both speak french. One spoke English (aside from
French) The other spoke German, we offered them a card with a Book of Mormon on
it because they didn't have too much time. One of them when he saw the name of
the book, recognized the name of the church, he had attended the church
services when he was living in France, and REALLY likes the church. He gave us
his address and phone number and we made an appointment for this coming
Thursday to bring him a book and talk about the church. :-) That happened
within 4 minutes. HUGE MIRACLE. I was so happy!
Again, had we not gone by on
these people and returned home with those few minutes( which we wouldn't have,
if we would have gone with the Buchanans) we would have never found them. We
turned down dinner with the Buchanans (WHICH IS NOT EASY BECAUSE SISTER
BUCHANAN IS A GREAT COOK) but it felt right, and we were blessed.
Saturday everything fell out, and we ended up going door to
door in Oberzell of all places where we found a German family who wants us to
come back on Wednesday, and a Romanian girl who is interested in learning more
German and getting a book of Mormon. :-)
It was a week of finding, what more can I say? It was hard,
but overall now that I reflect back on it, It really was just God taking us in
the right direction, to find more people to meet with. I am so grateful for that.
Yesterday was an adventure. Half of the branch got stuck in
the Elevator just before the meeting was supposed to begin. :-) There are two
elevators, the main one for people, which is neat because it is made entirely
of glass, and is cool, but temperamental, and another one used mostly for
loading of furniture and pianos. The first one was out of order, so the members
that needed the elevator used the other one, and got stuck in it for about 10
or 15 minutes... :-) Literally half of the branch was in the Elevator.
I gave a
talk yesterday as well, that was interesting. I had forgotten about it until
Saturday morning, so I took a few minutes in personal study that morning, and
then finished it Sunday morning. It was only supposed to be 10-15 minutes long,
but the speaker before me only took 5 minutes (when she was supposed to take
10- 15). So I stood up and spoke for a little more than 20 minutes. :-) I had
my talk adjusted so that I could take as little as 10 and up to 20 minutes if
needed. I gave the whole 20 minute talk, and then we sang and the High
councilman spoke. That was cool. My topic was the 5th article of faith, which
is about being called through prophecy and by the laying on of hands, so I tied
that into the restoration, about why it was so important, priesthood keys to
perform ordinances etc. Then the high council man spoke about the restoration
and temple work. It just fit together really well. And I am so grateful for the
spirit in guiding my words, and helping me prepare my talk in a small amount of
time. :-) It was great, to end the talk I quoted the words out of the hymn
Sehet Ihr Völker.
"Sehet ihr Völker, licht bricht heran! O hört
ein Engel, bringt euch den Plan. Hell wie die Sonne, leuchtet die Bahn Jeden
nun Himmel an! O wie Herrlich von des Himmels thron, strömt dass licht, die
wahrheit nun hervor. Höret die stimme, Hell wie zuvor, heute an Welten
Tor."
I get goosebumps everytime I think about it. For my talk I
thought a lot about the darkness of the apostasy as opposed to the wonderful
light which the gospel brings.
"Behold ye people, Light is breaking forth! Oh, hear
the Angel bringing you the plan. Bright as the Sun, its lighting the way for
everyone toward heaven. Oh how Glorious from Heavens Throne, pours out the
light truth! Listen to the voice, its as bright as before, today at the worlds
gate."
That is a rough translation, its much prettier in German
because it all rhymes. :-)
I know that this Church is restored, I know that we are led
by prophets and Apostels today. I know that after the long night of darkness,
light finally broke forth, and what a wonderful blessing it is to have it in
our lives today. I am so happy to be here and searching for those people who
are only kept from the truth because the know not where to find it (D&C
123:13). What a blessing!
I wish you all a wonderful week!
love,
Elder Ryan K. Christensen
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