Well, I must say first off that my thoughts about repairing
that bike was me being really optimistic and not wanting to need to buy another
bike. But I took it into the shop and they said that it couldn't be repaired
and commented how the bike was actually meant for people much shorter than me (the frame didn't really indicate that other than the fact that I found it
strange that the mount for the seat sat so low (which is why all the Elders in
the past have pulled up the seat so incredibly high way past the point that it
should have been moved. Then there is me, who isn't exactly the smallest Elder
in the Mission and after nearly 8 weeks of me it gave up the ghost...)
Anyway,
so I talked to President Miles and he told me to try to buy another bike from
Marcus, who we bought the bikes from in the first place. Long story short,
Marcus was about to shut down for the season and didn't have any more bikes. But
was able to bolt the seat in place. But here is the thing, the frame is meant
for people much shorter, and because we were missing that extra two inches that
the mount provided, it was WAY SHORT. I got on it and my knees were nearly at
my chest as I rode. Elder Wasden saw how pitiful I looked and (he having not
nearly as long of Legs as I do) decided to switch me bikes for the week. So now
today we are going to go on a bike hunt for another bike which is durable and
within budget. Sweet. And knowing my luck, what will happen is that we will
find a bike, I may get to ride it for 2 days or so and then its going to snow
really hard, and we will be unable to use the bikes...
From Monday night till Tuesday night we had an exchange. It
was rough. All the appointments fell out and even after nearly 4 hours of
contacting no one wanted to speak with us. District meeting was good though.
:-)
Wednesday. Going into the day we had 5 appointments set up!
Then shortly into the day 3 fell out, but we kept the practice teach
appointment with sister Schmelz. Which was great, and we met again with
Prosperi. We had a good discussion about faith and how to gain it using Matthew
13 and Alma 32. Prosperi is way awesome! He understands a lot. He understands
that the only way to gain a testimony is through prayer and guidance through
the Holy Ghost. Something neat though that happened that morning, on the way to
our first appointment (with a polish man in Weingarten ) we were on the way
there and were talking to people on the street at this point in the day there
weren't too many people out and about. We talked the first person we saw and
for some reason something about the conversation just felt off.
Talking to
people on the street has been really something that has been bugging me because
I feel like I could do better. I had been pondering about that during personal
study that morning. I wasn't feeling too much of a personal connection with the
people I was talking with and I didn't know why. And I was trying to do better.
One of the things that came to my mind was to listen, pause think and then
answer, instead of trying to just shoot out a blatant answer or testimony.
We
talked to the next person, we mentioned who we were and that we were talking
about God. He quickly said that he didn't believe that there was a God and that
he had no interest really. We asked why, and he said that he had been through
so many hard things that there couldn't be a God. We paused and spoke and told
him that bad things happening is not evidence that there isn't a God, because
Jesus once said "he maketh his sun to rise on evil and good and sendeth
rain on the just and the unjust". And then I ( with Joel 2:13 and Isaiah
57:15, 18-19 in mind) bore testimony about how God knows that bad
things will happen, but only wants us to turn to him, humble our selves so that
he can heal us.
The Spirit came, I felt it, and he felt it, and I could see it
in his eyes. He gave us his phone number and address and we made an appointment
for Friday. That was the best street contact I have ever had. Its not easy to
do that, and I don't know exactly how to keep doing it, but I know its
possible, and I know how a street contact can be. Now the trick is to be better
at it. Granted of all topics that I could have picked having had much hard
times and having been comforted myself, this topic was very close to my heart
in that moment and I think that really helped. Had I not had such hard time
these past few weeks, maybe that would have never happened. Who is to say,
either way I am INCREDIBLY grateful for the that which I have learned and
experienced.
We also experienced a wonderful miracle on Thursday. I
mentioned awhile ago that there was a couple from Markdorf that tried coming to
church but couldn't find it so they went back. Well Adrienne texted us and
wanted to meet with us, so we brought the Buchanans and we went. We get there
and she runs out and give sister Buchanan a hug and shakes all our hands and we
walk inside and talk with her a bit. Its rough, she is from the Ivory Coast and
French is her mother language. She speaks decent German but it is still rough.
We talked to her a bit and found out that she is actually a member of the
church! She was baptized and shortly after had to move to a different city down
in the Ivory Coast, where the church wasn't at. After several years she met her
husband (who is German) and later moved to Markdorf. She hasn't had any contact
with the church for over 10 years. Until Elders Kingery, Wasden and I got the
refferal from the Kontanz Elders and when they weren't there, we knocked on a
few doors in the area.
She was so THRILLED to see us that second time. She is
going to visit Family back in the Ivory coast and leaves this Saturday. She
won't come back till January 10th. Ouch. But we managed to stop by on her on
Saturday to bring her some cookies we made. She was even more happy to see us
that time that she immediate embraced both Elder Wasden and I. She gave us her
e-mail and skype information and said that she wanted to keep in constant
contact when she is there. She is so incredibly happy to have found the church
again. And I can't help but sit back and marvel and be so grateful for God and
his great mercy. This is by no means the first time that has happened it
happened in Munich once, and now twice here with Elder Wasden and I. We would
have never ever found her, if we hadn't received that refferal. Markdorf isn't
exactly a big place and it wouldn't be my first choice to do missionary work in
(although I must say I LOVE MARKDORF we are there a few times a week and
I have come to love it.)
I am running out of time again... :-P Time is not my friend.
But I did want to talk about Vladmir (the one guy who we found on the street
that I mentioned). We went and visited him and had an incredible lesson. We
started out by asking him what he expected from us/ what made him want to meet
with us. And he told me that the scripture I shared really touched him and that
he wants peace and real happiness. As you can tell by the name he is from Kazakhstan,
and he isn't kidding when he said that so many terrible things have happened to
him. We read in Alma 32 about how he could find out for himself it these things
are true. We read verse 42 and asked him what he thought. He said almost with
tears in his eyes that is what he wants. We talked about peace and healing from
God. It was powerful. We invited him to read Alma 7:11-13 and 3 Nephi 17. I am
way excited for him He has a lot of interest and really wants to come to know
God.
We have been very blessed here in Ravensburg, and we have a
lot to look forward to, and much to do. I am so happy to be here serving a
mission here, and for the wonderful things that we are able to see. God truly
leads this work, I know it.
I wish you all a wonderful week!
love,
Elder Ryan K. Christensen
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