One week from July...

Well, I don't know what to say about this week really. I was hard, really hard. I am still grateful, however, for the wonderful blessings which I did notice. This week, not much went according to plan, if anything. All of our appointments dropped. Except one, with Nicole and Bastian, which was a blast as always. 

I don't know if I have talked about them at all, Nicole is American and was baptized into the church when she was 9 her mom was a member, but not completely active and Nicole has actually not come to church most of her life. She has had contact with missionaries at time through her life. Which is a bit of a problem, because having come to church off and on, she has heard (sadly) a lot of deep doctrine, which happened before she learned basics which is what caused her to stop having a desire to come to church. 

That was a long time ago (back when she was in college (OK, so not so long ago maybe like 8-10 years ago)) so as we meet with her all she can recall is small (and I mean SMALL) pieces of deep doctrine which causes her have questions to no end. Ones that can be really difficult to answer, at least without immense scripture references and good explanations. But sitting answering questions with no direction is a complete waste of time. So we have been taking the typical missionary lessons, and tie them back to the questions, and answer them. Anyway, that is what we do with her. 

Bastian (he is the coolest) is German, and comes with her to support her. As of right now he (or so they say) is only there to support her and has no interest, but I see it every now and again that he is taking a bit of interest in what we say. Its fun to be with them, its always a good meeting. 

Nicole LOVES to read and has an immense collection of books, when meeting with her last time the thought came to me that I should get her a copy of Jesus the Christ (I LOVE THAT BOOK) So I was going to order her one, but then on Tuesday at District Meeting Sister Hunsaker came up to me with a copy.  She said that this past week she had thought about Nicole and the thought came to her that she should get her a copy of Jesus the Christ. So she did, and gave it to me to give to Nicole. :-)  Pure Inspiration. But that will be a huge help, because Nicole's questions often go into deep doctrine, which one usually learns by a reading the scriptures, church literature, and coming to church over a period of several years. Jesus the Christ is an incredible book that covers so many topics, it will essentially answer most of her questions, and we can focus around a faith centered testimony. I am excited to meet with her again. 

We had a fun adventure this week, Our Carbon Monoxide alarm went off at 1 in the morning. That's always fun to wake up to. I jumped out of bed, grabbed the alarm and took out the batteries (IT IS INCREDIBLY LOUD), so that it wouldn't wake the neighbors. Then I realized what alarm it was and got really confused, because all the windows in the apartment were open and the fans were running, I put the batteries back in and the alarm registered everything as normal. Weird... but I called the AP's and they came and got us anyway and took us to their apartment while we let ours air out (the windows were only part way open, and so we opened them all the way) and left. Better safe then sorry. I had to drag Elders Thomas and Mochon out of the apartment though, they weren't exactly willing to wake up and leave... But yeah, that was fun, riding in a car back to the mission office at 1:15 or so in the morning. Then at 7 they drove us back (we played soccer with them, the Zone leaders and the Office Elders at 6 am) and everything has since been fine. We are pretty sure it was a false alarm, 1) because it was mounted incorrectly nearly on the ceiling in a corner, and 2) it was INCREDIBLY Humid during those few days, which is also known to trigger false alarms. 

We spend a whole day this week back in Deggendorf doing demolition on a house. :-) Sadly it wasn't as fun as it sounds, since germany doesn't believe in Sheet rock all the walls are made of morter-plaster covered brick walls, and our job was to remove all the  morter-plaster. So we took sledge hammers to the walls to remove the plaster, but hitting the wall over and over again really kills your hands... but we did it! And we were able to help clean up a lot of things as well which was good. :-) I got to rip out a door frame however, and THAT was fun. :-) 

Other than that it was a hard week, all of our appointments fell out, and spending hours out speaking with people didn't yield anything. Which is actually, though it may sound at first a bit strange,  wonderful. I have received far more insight and understanding from one really hard week, then I ever have from 10  good weeks. It is always a humble reminder whose work this is, and who really is in charge. The scripture in Isaiah 10:15 comes to mind as well as Alma 26:22. 

Isaiah 10:15 reads: Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith? or shall the saw magnify itself against him that shaketh it? as if the rod should shake itself against them that lift it up, or as if the staff should lift up itself, as if it were no wood.

Alma 26:22 reads: Yea, he that repenteth and exerciseth faith, and bringeth forth good works, and prayeth continually without ceasing--unto such it is given to know the mysteries of God; yea, unto such it shall be given to reveal things which never have been revealed; yea, and it shall be given unto such to bring thousands of souls to repentance, even as it has been given unto us to bring theses our brethren to repentance.

Its something that I always try and acknowledge, that I am but an instrument in Gods hands, that it is His work, not mine. But having a gentle reminder every now and again is good. I don't necessarily like it however ;-). 

But I have come to understand it as a process of learning, and not of punishment or anything of the like. It's caused me to reflect a lot more on the life of my Savior, how He much have felt during those times when He would try to help people and they rejected Him. They wouldn't listen to Him. How much sorrow He must have felt when they didn't listen or when people did do that which would truly bring them happiness. How could I, being His servant and trying to follow Him, expect to go about doing this work and not have some of the same sorrows and trials which He Himself had?

In my studies of Isaiah I was led to Isaiah 50:4-9. 

4 The Lord God hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned.

5 The Lord God hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back

6 I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting.

7 For the Lord God will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded: Therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed.

8 He is near that justifieth me; who will contend with me? let us stand together: who is mine adversary? let him come near to me.

9 Behold, the Lord God will help me; who is he that shall condemn me? lo, they all shall wax old as a garment; the moth shall eat them up.

It isn't a coincidence that I happened to read this passage of scripture this week in my studies. It had a huge impact on me. With the week the way it was, I understand and appreciate this scripture so much more, I can't by any means compare, and nothing was that bad this week, but it helped me gain that much more of an understanding of Jesus Christ, and have a greater appreciation for what He did. For that I am incredibly grateful. And as a servant of Him, alot of the things mentioned in there apply to me "the Lord God will help me". I love that phrase. 

We hope that this week will shape up to be better than the last week. We were unsuccessful in arranging appointments for last week, but we were able to a bit for this week. So we will see. 

I am so grateful for the chance to serve a mission here, even though it is hard at times. I have learned so much, and gained so much insight through it. I have seen so many wonderful blessings during this time. And I am looking forward to many more. :-)

I wish you all a great week!

love,

Elder Ryan K. Christensen

Elder Nelson, Transfers, and Service in the new swamplands of Deggendorf...

This week was incredibly PACKED. We were full the entire week. But it was good :-). Monday was P-day followed by dinner with the Johnsons, Tuesday we Had a meeting with speakers from the European Area presidency, and Elder Nelson, which was absolutely INCREDIBLE that lasted from 10 till 1. Then after that we had a Zone Training meeting, and then a District Leader Meeting. When that was over it was 6 pm, which is when the office Elder came and picked us up to go to the Wilsons for dinner. 

Wednesday we were with back to back appointments all the way through the day, and then Thursday was Transfer day. Friday we cleaned the church, had weekly planning and were supposed to have another appointment, but no one was there. :-( So it is I guess. 

Then Saturday we spend the whole day in Deggendorf, just outside of Passau. It was crazy,  I knew it flooded, but I had no idea. One of the newspaper headlines that I saw referred to it as "Sintflut" which is the name given in the bible for the flood at Noah's time. I thought it was a bit exaggerated, but NO. The place where I spent most of my time, nearly ( if not more) than a kilometer away from the river, had water 13 feet deep, which was high enough to have a good 1 foot or so standing water ON THE SECOND FLOOR.

They also had an oil leakage and everything was destroyed. We went to assist unloading a house of all the furniture and everything throwing it into a garbage pile so when all the water is gone, it can be picked up and disposed of. WE were up to our knees ( and actually slightly higher) when we started ( haha they gave giant rubber shoe covers to keep my shoes dry, a lot of good that did... they didn't do anything except fill with water and make me feel like I was walking around with sopping wet lead clown shoes... ;-)

I LOVE my Deuter though (my backpack). I was able to pack my scriptures (yes I had them with me) 25 Helping Hands Jerseys, 3 pairs of gloves, 5 1 liter water bottles as well as keep all watches, wallets and phones in my backpack. We had to walk one and a half kilometers to where we ended up helping, and then I tied my backpack to a fence ( I wish I would have taken a picture of that). But despite all the weight, I was able to quite comfortably walk around. It is a well built back pack. :-) I highly recommend it to any missionary preparing to serve. :-) Because I was the only one with the backpack I was the only one who had my camera, so I ended up taking a lot of pictures. So I actually have pictures to post! But I am not in many because I ended up being the camera man... Sorry Mom. ;-)

We had fun while serving and got to know the people well. I was amazed at how much water there was and how quickly it destroyed everything. It caused me to be deeply grateful for that which I have, and that in Utah, we (personally) haven't had any problems with huge natural disasters. Even with the fires we weren't worried. 

It was a really good day, despite it taking up all day, and then there was me, which had the backpack with everything inside... except Sunblock. That was horrible, When standing next to Elder Curtis and Elder Thomas we were talking to Sister Allman when she made the observation that Elder Thomas looked like Neapolitan ice cream (white face with a bit of pink and then brown hair, then Elder Curtis who looked like Strawberry Ice cream (some what pink/red) then turned to me and said "and you're a tomato!" Thanks Sister Allman thanks a lot...;-)I spent most of my time outside the house dragging large furniture to the pile while others spent more time (or the entire time) in the house...

Anyway, yesterday was really good We were completely busy, so busy that we finally were able to eat at 10 pm last night. But it was good. We had a lesson with Mr. Dodoo and his wife, which went over spectacularly. I was worried because when I called to confirm the appointment it came to a point where I had to ask him to grab his bible right then and I used it to teach him some of the principles so that he would allow us to come. I asked him if he was willing to meet with us with an open heart, and prepared to hear our message and ask God if it was true. He said he was and wanted to meet with us, but I was worried that he would try to bible bash with us in the appointment. 

One Gift God has given me is the ability to memorize scripture very rapidly, to have a very sharp recall where exactly things are in the scriptures so that I can use them when the time is right. I am absolutely against bible bashing. I will NOT do it. Because of this, God has blessed me with this gift of knowledge, memorization and understanding of the scriptures. And because I am aware that the reason I have this gift is because I won't bash anyone, I have an even stronger conviction not to. I am not here to tear anyone down, but rather to built up, that is something that I have become even more aware of. It has changed the way that I teach and go about things, there is a way to teach and to use the scriptures in a building up way, but if they are just looking to argue, then it is a waste of our time. I would have just gotten up and thanked him for his time and left, there are better things to do. 

Anyway so I was concerned that he would to bible bash with me. We went there opened with a prayer and got know him. He was searching for the truth and a place to worship, but was scared of being deceived or led down the wrong path. We had a great discussion using a number of scriptures, and it was incredible. He now knows and understands that as we teach, he is expected to hear what we say, think about it, and then ask God if it is true. It went VERY well. :-) It was very uplifting and the spirit was strong. We walked out of the appointment feeling great. It was an answer to a prayer. 

One thing I have been doing recently in my personal study, is studying Isaiah. And I have been so amazed of how much is in that book. How many wonderful teachings are to be found in there, which have really changed my life. There is so much poetic beauty in the words. I have become aware of some patterns in the book of Isaiah, which have been a strength to me, and are of great worth to people who I am teaching. I am only in the 43rd or so chapter, but I am loving it! I started studying Isaiah because of the Saviors remarks about how great the words of Isaiah are and that we should study them, and the more that I try to have the spirit and be receptive, the easier it is. Granted, I am reading it in German, which unlike the English Language has not changed nearly as much over the past 500 years or so, which makes it so much easier to understand. But the spirit has also been a great source of knowlege to me. 

Anyway, I am out of time now. I will send some pictures of the service project, but one thing I do want to end with, is my testimony of this gospel. I know that this church is true, I know that it is led by God through a living prophet today. I know that God loves each and everyone of us, and he wants the very best for us. I am grateful for that love. And for the time I have to give, to spread it. 

I wish you all a great Week!

love,

Elder Ryan K. Christensen

More pictures of the floods:

 The picture of Sister Smith showing how high the water by the dealership was, was lower than that of where we were. We were on dry ground by the dealership but we were knee deep in water by the house. Sister Scoggin and Sister Smith love pictures and kept asking me to take pictures of them, so that is why there will be so many of them. We were taken by boat from the first house to the second. :-) More for enjoyment then anything. .-)

 The 2nd picture of Sister Smith in the Boat with Elder Curtis next to it, is probably one of my favorites :-)

This about sums it up!

Elder Christensen Sighting

Valorie's brother-in-law Taylor Benson's parents are serving a mission in the Alpine German Speaking Mission.  They sent this picture to Taylor and Lucy, who forwarded it on to us.

Look who we Found! Elder Christensen actually found us at our meeting in Munich today.

What a week...

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.....

WHY WON'T IT STOP RAINING??? ( OR ATLEAST GET WARMER!)

Yeah, so as you may have noticed by the title of this e-mail the weather hasn't been exactly ideal, and even for the native Münchnern, it has been a bit rough. Unusually cold and an incredible amount of rain. It has rained every day this week, except for Tuesday, which is an absolute MIRACLE. Rain is great, especially when its warm. But when you are a missionary rain is terrible, because it really limits finding options (no one wants to talk you, they would rather get out of the rain). When its cold and rainy... I just feel bad talking to some people. I still do it, sometimes, depending on how I feel I should. Usually I can offer a card and people will take it, but it doesn't replace a good conversation. 

This is why it was a miracle that it didn't rain on Tuesday  Tuesday evening, the entire district had set apart for a finding evening (because half of us work in the office and only proselyte in the evenings, we can't do a full finding day, so we set apart the evening to do it. Monday, it was raining. HARD. Tuesday morning it was cloudy and was supposed to rain. But toward the after noon and evening, it got warmer, the sun came out and it was actually a REALLY nice day! So we were able to have a really successful finding evening. 

The first lady I found was from Peru, and couldn't speak English or German. But she pointed to our name tag, and indicated that her brother was a missionary from our church currently serving in Mexico, but she is not a member. The Munich 1 ward is half Spanish  so we were able to get her number and someone in that ward was able to call her. 

Later on, just as everyone was leaving, (they all got in the van, and Elder Evans and I decided to take the U-bahn home) I all the sudden had the strongest impression to turn around and stop the guy walking by. So I did (I startled him fairly bad, as you can imagine). But then started talking about this life and how death isn't the end. Then I told him that he can learn for himself that it is true if he wants to. He smiled and said "I want to, when can we meet?" ( in German of course) and we exchanged numbers and he will meet with the AP's sometime this week. 

It was a super successful finding evening. We found overall I think 14 people who want to learn more. 2 of them are for us. :-) Anyway, it started to rain again on Wednesday and has been raining ever since. The rains have been coming down, but luckily no floods have been coming up ;-) Yet... 

My time is short again, but short to say, it was another somewhat rough week, but with a HUGE Miracle, that I wish to explain. So, last Saturday (not June 1st but the week before) on the way back home an Nigerian man gets on the U-bahn and comes, walks straight in, and sits right next to me (it was the only available seat left) I turn to him and start a friendly conversation, and it nearly immediately turns into a conversation about Jesus Christ. He believes very strongly in Jesus, and goes about talking to people about him. He was so happy to meet another servant of Jesus Christ, going out to preach his word, he told me that the Holy Spirit told him to get on this U-bahn, and he didn't know why, but now he knew so that he could meet me. 

He gives me his number and says that he wants to come to church, so I should give him a call the next day. I did, and he didn't answer, and didn't come to church. I called him later, and I told him I would call him again on Sunday to come to church on Sunday. This time he did, but he decided to come the long way through Solln and walk to church, no umbrella in the rain. Its a 20 minute walk and he showed up really wet, but he was like "it's OK  its for God, so it was worth it". He walks in and sees the picture of Joseph Smith and the first vision and asked us "What church is this?! is this the church of Joseph Smith?!!" Elder Evans responded "well, the real name is the church of Jesus Christ, but yes we believe that Joseph Smith is a prophet" "THIS IS MY CHURCH!". 

He was baptized a member in Nigeria, and had moved to Italy and been there for 4 years, never once going to any church, because he didn't really know that our church existed outside of Nigeria. People of all denominations invited him to come, but he turned them all down, because there was only one true church and it was in Nigeria. Then, toward the beginning of a 3 week vacation in Germany, the spirit tells him to get on an U-bahn, he enters  IN THE EXACT CAR I WAS IN, AND THROUGH THE DOOR THAT WAS RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME. THEN TAKES THE ONLY SEAT AVAILABLE: NEXT TO ME! I turned and started talking to him, invited him to church and for the first time in 4 years he was able to come back to his church. 

He and I were both stunned. (Elder Evans was a bit stunned too, but not nearly as either one of us were).  He was so incredibly happy to be there, and mentioned that many times. He hasn't been to the church in 4 years, which is why he didn't recognize me (as a missionary), or the name of the church. But God knew it, and led him to meet me in a crowded U-bahn. And even though he didn't except any invitations from anyone to come to church, he accepted mine. He is a member of the Church. Later on Sunday, he joined us for the investigator class and help answer a question about Mormon and Moroni (from what little he could still remember). But he made reference to a picture found in the book of Mormon of Moroni burying the plates and helped us answer the question. 

4 years without going to church, and on a 3 week vacation in Munich Germany, God leads him to meet me in an U-bahn. I felt, and still feel so honored to have been able to be the one to meet him and help him come to church. He could have met anyone, anywhere, in Italy even. But I had the privilege of living the miracle, and it is something which has caused me utmost humility and gratitude. He wasn't able to come to church the first time, but the second he could, and he will be able to stay for Elder Nelson, who is doing a special meeting for our stake this upcoming Sunday. 

After which, I will refer his information to the Milan Italy Mission, (he is living in Rovigo right now in Northern Italy) and they will be able to get him to the right ward so that he can continue attending church. It was an absolute Miracle that confirms that God is really leading this work, and he is aware of all his sheep. And lets his servants find joy in helping those sheep come back to the fold sometimes. It has been a wonderful experience, and I look forward to more miracles happening. This was not my any means the only miracle that happened over the past week, there were many, some large some small, but this one was the biggest by far. 

Anyway, I am out of time right now, but I just want to end this e-mail with my testimony again, that God truly is leading this work. I know it. I know that he cares about each and everyone of us. Personally, individually. I am so grateful to be apart of this work, it truly is the greatest work there is in this life. Nothing is more important. And with Enos, I truly can say that this work has brought me more joy than anything that is in the world. I know it, and am grateful and look forward to being apart of it my whole life long. That is my testimony, and I will leave with you in the name of Jesus Christ, our Saviour. Amen.

Have a great week!

Love,

Elder Ryan K. Christensen

June???!!! REALLY??!

Man, it just occurred to me that with the end of this week, brings the beginning of June. And I am stunned by that fact. Elder Evans likes to remind me of that, as well that Elder Heinrich (who is technically only 4 transfers older than me) goes home in 2 weeks. :-P  Where did all the time go? I swear I just started my mission only  a few days ago. I never would have imagined that I would be sitting in this position.

I am a bit low on time so I will just stick to the main events of the week. It was another difficult week. Things were looking up, but as they sometimes do, they all came back down. All of our appointments fell out this week, which isn't all that uncommon, but it isn't always the most optimal. However out of we were able to find 15 people who are interested in learning more. :-) 

Monday we found 9 of them, that was really cool. 5 of them we found on the way to Starnberger See, the Zone Leaders, Munich 2 sisters, Assistants  and us all went out down there to go hike. It was cool and very pretty, but on the way to meet up with them, I saw some Nigerians who were trying to figure out how to get to Obersendlingen, I showed them the way and got to talk to them a bit. It was a family of 5. Isaac, his brother Ken, Isaac's wife, and 12 year old Daughter, and 14 year old son who wanted to meet with us!! They lived in Kieferngarten and I said I was going to call them on Wednesday to make an appointment out. Well I did, and I found out they (being asylum seekers) were transferred out of Munich into Kaufbeuren's area (You should of heard Kaufbeuren when I told them that a Family of 5 just moved into there area and wants to know more). 

Then later on the way back home after trying to visit someone, we get into the U-bahn and I sit next to a family that I found, who turn out to be from Iraq. Mom, dad, and 2 super energetic children (9 year old boy and a 6 year old Girl). I start talking to them and the children started to DRILL me with questions, they came and sat across from me and were asking me every question imaginable. How old are you? Where are you from? Are you married? Do you have kids? Do you like kids? How many do you want to have? Do you like to learn?... the list goes on. 

Finally somewhere down the line they asked me if I like music and could sing, I said yes and then they both in Unison said "alright sing us a song!" and then both sat back with their arms folded giving me this smug look like "Lets hear it". Oh snap, I am in a full U-bahn, and these two kids want me to sing a solo off the top of my head... I was stunned and paused then grabbed my hymn book flipped it open somewhat randomly to "Come thou fount of Every Blessing" (yes, it's in the German hymn book) And then sang a couple lines, trying to not draw to much attention and ignoring those who were then looking at me. Yeah I really did sing in an U-bahn full of people. Then they were like "Sing another song! Sing another song!" Luckily We arrived at Hauptbahnhof where they (and we got off) I talked to the dad, and told him a bit more about the church, and it turns out they live in Pasing, Munich 2's area. He gave me there information and I passed it on to the Sisters who went and visited them. It went alright, it was a bit rough because of the energetic children, but they will keep trying! :-)

 Nataly sadly had to cancel on us, because she was called in to take an emergency shift, but we should be able to meet with her again this week. We were able to get in contact and meet with Phillipe, which was cool. He is somewhat agnostic, but is open to here more about the gospel. He is moving this week, so we can't meet with him, but we will hopefully meet with him again next week.

Other than that, we were out and about it. Not much more to add, a normal week. Yesterday however, was Ward Conference, which was awesome. It was very uplifting, which was very needed.

We had 3 lessons back to back to back, which should have filled the rest of the day (with Travel between included) but the first 2 fell out. And we were unsuccessful at contacting and confirming the last one. But we prayed that he would be there, Munich one was praying for us that he would be there (because up to that point in the week we had only 1 lesson that actually was successful). We went and rang his doorbell and waited, and waited.. Right as I was about to give up and walk away, he let us in! Thank goodness. 

We had a really good lesson with him.  REALLY good. He knows the bible fairly well, and is really believes strongly in it, so I used it most all the lesson. It went well, I love acts 3:19-21. Especially in English, when they are using another bible not the King James. Most people have the alternate versions which is awesome. Because then it uses the word "Restoration" as opposed to "Restitution" They mean essentially the same thing, but I love reading it when it says "Restoration of all things" Then pulling out the pamphlet and showing the cover which says "THE RESTORATION". It's has proved powerful in illustrating the point. Anyway, we talked about the Priesthood authority, how it was lost after the apostles died. At this point he had a big concern, because he knew of a pastor who could heal people, open the eyes of the blind, and cause the deaf to be able to hear again, and then he asked us "are you telling me that that is not the Power of God?".

Immediately without hesitation I opened my mouth and God filled it with the words that I needed to speak. The spirit Enlightened my mind, and brought up a number of scriptures to use and to back it up with doctrine  The main two that were brought to my mind were Moroni 10:9-17 and then Matthew 7:21-23. The truth is that there are people, who have faith and have the gifts of the Spirit. Some to heal, some to perform miracles, some to speak in Tongues and each gift is distributed according to faith and the will of God. 

However, it is not to be confused with the Priesthood power. in Matthew 7:21-23 Jesus is giving us all a warning, there are those who will have these gifts and do these amazing miracles, and will truly think that they are working for God. But they will not humble themselves as children, they will be blinded by there pride and this gift and will think that they have power and Authority of God.  And that they (if they do not acknowledge the full truth and authority of the Priesthood) will be made aware at the last day that even though they had these gifts they had ignored the full truth from God and did not have everything they needed to enter into the Kingdom of God. 

I formed it a bit differently as the spirit directed me, but there is the doctrine behind it that was given to me. I was an incredible experience for me. It was a question which on my own I could not have answered. Not off the top of my head so quickly as that. It was a literal and powerful manifestation and reminder to me of the promise in D&C 33:8-10, as well as in Section 84 verse 85. It was neat and I KNOW that God is leading this work, and that as we strive to teach his children, he will enlighten our minds and give us the words which we need to speak. And that with his help we "will not be confounded before men".

I know that this church is the true Church. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet, and I know that through him, God restored his Priesthood keys, the power and Authority to act in his name. I know that the Book of Mormon truly is the word of God. And I am so happy to be here and be able to spread this message.

I am now out of time but wish you all the best! Have a great week!

Love,
Elder Ryan K. Christensen

Frustration, Miracles, and a Fresh Start

This e-mail will need to be super short, sorry. We have an appointment and need to catch a train in an hour maybe... We actually haven't been able to get a hold of him to confirm yet, and after a week where we had 14 appointments, 11 of which fell out, we have learned that if you can't call a few hours a head and confirm, then the appointment WILL fall out. And because Nigerians would rather lie than say no, if they really don't want to meet with you, you can call them 30 minutes a head and they will say "yeah I will be there"  and then run out the door and go somewhere... grr... 

Anyway, yeah, so this week was alright, actually in some places it was really amazing. Miracles have happened  I mention a few weeks back that one time we went and visited Brother Griffin in the hospital right? He had an advanced stage lung cancer that had spread to the lymph nodes and the doctors thought that he only had a few months to live, but they were going to try a series of surgeries which could help. They started him on Chemo therapy for a while and then he went into the hospital to have the first surgery. He had gotten a hold of Brother Jarman, the High priest group leader, and he and Brother Wood went and gave him a blessing that all would be well and he would be healed. 

The first surgery was a success, and his recovering astounded the doctors, the day after they removed a lob of his lung he was able to get up and walk around. And was released from the hospital a week later. The second surgery at first looked impossible. It was a sarcoma that was in a really bad location, one which probably would have killed him if they were to operate, but with time it moved to a safer location where they thought that he would probably lose some function of his arm, but that they could remove it. 

He came in, and was really nervous, but received another blessing, with the same promise, that he would be healed. That surgery also went remarkably well. And upon scanning him, the cancer was COMPLETELY GONE. They had planned to do another few surgeries, but now the cancer in his whole body is COMPLETELY GONE. No traces of it. He is healed and will be released from the hospital tomorrow. (And as far as I know has complete use of his arm). He hasn't come to church in a really long time but has had contact with some members of the ward. After talking to Bro Wood a few days ago he said that he was going to start coming back to church. That is an absolute miracle. 

I also had the chance to give a blessing with a miraculous outcome as well. We got a call from Brother Wood that Brother Wilson was in the hospital and needed a blessing, we, having time, were able to go, and Brother Wood took us. He had been in the hospital for a couple of days at that point in time and the doctors didn't know what he had. We arrive and find his room, and were allowed to go in. Usually, they weren't allowing visitors, but they allowed us to go in, on the conditions that we put on full body gowns, gloves and masks. Which I thought strange, but I must say that I enjoyed the feeling ;-). 

We get into the room and Brother Wilson looked very pale and tired. We said hi and he somewhat smiled but wasn't saying anything. Elder Evans anointed and I sealed, and in the blessing I mentioned twice that he would be healed and receive strength again to do that which was asked of him. I closed and stepped back. The color had come back to his face and he looked better, we talked with him and his wife for a bit, then left. I called his sister Wilson a couple days later to see how he was doing, and she reported to me that when she came back the next day he looked a lot better, he was happy, he had more strength then before and was doing well. The doctors finally figured out what was ailing him, but he had made such a huge recovery to the point that medications weren't any longer necessary and he was released the next day (the day of the phone call). 

What a huge opportunity and blessing it is to have this Priesthood authority God. To have the opportunity to be His servant, though despite my best efforts, an unprofitable servant, and yet, He still allows me to have a part of this work. I still have the opportunity to hold this Priesthood power, and get to exercise it according to the need and faith of His children. It has really caused me to be much more thoughtful and grateful of all the blessings that we enjoy. What a blessing it has been, and is to be here. What a blessing it has been, is and will be to have a knowledge of this gospel. To know that God loves us the same yesterday, today, and forever. That he has a plan for us, and that He wants us to know His plan and draw near unto Him. 

Those were the main Highlights of the week. We also have enjoyed some success in other areas and I am grateful to be apart of it. One of the things that I have really been hoping for is to be able to help the Munich 2 sisters out a bit. They have had a really hard time finding people to teach, having opened up a new area at the same time that we did. And because the whole city is my area and I contact for all the wards, I was especially praying that we would be able to find them some people to teach. 

One day this past week on an Exchange with Elder Orchard, I was sitting at a tram station, and just asked the lady next to me how she was doing that day. She said " I am doing well" (then seeing the Book of Mormon that I was strategically holding in my hand) she asked "What is the Book of Mormon?" I smiled and talked to her for 2 minutes or so about the Book and our Church. I gave it to her. Then just before the tram arrived (Like Seconds) she asked me "Why are there so many Christians churches in the world?". I told her that we would like to talk about that some time with her, and I made out an appointment for Sunday at 4.30 PM. The sisters went and gave me a call afterwards (very excited) that it went really really well, and that both her and her husband want to learn more! :-) That was cool. 

But yeah, those are the really amazing points of the week. :-) Things are looking up for this week, and I am excited to have a fresh new start! :-) I hope you all have a great week!

Love,

Elder Ryan K. Christensen

Eine Woche der Wundern

(A Week of Wonders)

This week was pretty amazing, So many Neat things have happened, and I sit here at the end, and can only be grateful. Monday, was a bit rough, it wasn't a very good P-day and because of a lack of preparation for Mothers day  and other things, it cost us some valuable time. After taking care of all that, we left to start our proselyting time. 

We walked out of the Internet cafe and I had a feeling we should go by on Chris Ameiza, a potential who we were having a hard time getting in contact with. He lived over by Innsbruckerring, which is only 2 stops on the U-bahn from Giesing (where we live) (Giesing by the way, is the name for this part of the City of Munich). So we go there. It was rainy, a bit chilly, rather annoying for missionary work because most people don't want to stop and talk to you. Anyway we go there, and well, he isn't there. 

So we started going door to door in the area (there being no one on the streets) and after the first building I looked out across the street, and down a little, and I felt that we should go door to door there. So I tell Elder Evans and we go. We door the first set of doors, no one had interest. It was now around 7:50 or so, and neither of us had eaten anything all day. We had originally planned to be home at 8 and have dinner. So that is what we were going to do, but then I felt like we should go one more set before we go home. So we did.

 The very first door we knocked on was Christiana. She originally said that she wasn't interested, but I bore a bit more testimony. She then asked me a few questions (all in English by the way, she is Nigeria, so we can teach her!) "Do you fast?" I said yes. "Do you believe in the gift of Tongues and other gifts of the Spirit". I said of course, and then told her a few more of our beliefs upon which she said "Ok, now I can meet with you". She had visited many churches and couldn't find one that she believed in. I invited her to church and got her phone number so I could arrange to meet her on Sunday. She was way cool! And she came, but I will talk more about that when I get to Sunday.

Nothing to extraordinary about Tuesday, we practiced for the musical Number for Mission Tour, Elders Klappert, Johnson Müller and I. We added Sister Bice from Stuttgart in on Thursday, but we sang I believe in Christ, Elder Müller accompanied us on the Violin. First verse Unison, second verse accapella parts, we skipped the 3 verse, and sang the 4th in German parts, with the Violin playing and octave above. It was pretty cool. :-)

Wednesday we met with Nataly, which went REALLY well. We brought the Hunsakers with us and it was a great lesson. We talked about Following the prophets and apostles, why we have them, and then watched a few clips from Special Witnesses of Christ. It went well, but we will need to push back the baptismal date. She doesn't quite feel ready, and wants to be absolutely sure that this is the true church before she will get baptized, because as I may have mentioned last week, she recognizes that it is a big change. 

That night we were invited to the McPhee family for dinner. But before that Elder Evans and I went by on some potentials we had down near Holzapfelkreuth. Neither one was there, but we still had 10 minutes before the Office Elders came and picked us up with their car, so we started going door to door in the area. On the 10th door we knocked on a Man answered and I started speaking with him in German, and he stopped me and asked if I speak English. YES! I do. I talked to him about the family for a bit, and he was going to invite us in on the spot, but we didn't have time, so we made an appointment out for Saturday! We were so excited that twice in the week, after going door to door for only minutes we had found English speaking potentials.

Thursday, nothing really exciting happened we had weekly planning, and help pick up the Stuttgart Elders and bring them to the Mission office to spend the night. The Sisters were lucky, they got to stay in the mission home :-) When all the other Elders, 18 of them, stayed in the office, which already houses 7 Elders... VERY OVERLOADED. We took two with us back here to our apartment, but our apartment is small, so that is all we could take. Too bad that those are the only two places in the Munich where Elders live...

Anyway Friday was amazing we had Mission tour, which nearly took up the entire day. Elder Teixeira, the Area President Came and spoke to us, and it was amazing!

Skipping to Saturday, We met with the man we found on Wednesday on the 10th floor. We found out that he is from Tibet.  We started talking and found out that he has met people from nearly every Christian denomination and has listed to them speak. He is buddhist but believes on Jesus Christ. He asked us if we could pull out our bible, and he goes to the cupboard and pulls out a brand new book of Mormon, with a card in it. I was shocked. I asked if I could see the card, and I looked at it, and recognized the number as the new Munich 2 sisters, who came here (Munich) the same time we did. 

Sister Smith (from Munich 3) was on exchange with Sister Scoggin, and had asked us if she had given us the information of a really cool guy from Tibett. She hadn't, but we found him through dooring!! He told us that everywhere he has been he has met missionaries from our church that he can't seem to escape it and that he thinks God wants him to meet with us and hear our message. I was shocked, but he said it with such conviction that I knew he was completely serious. He asked us what is so important about the Book of Mormon, and why we should read it, and off we went. That lesson was probably the greatest lesson I have ever had with an investigator my in my whole mission. 

I used an example that I have used in 9 transfers, because the spirit told me to use it, and when I explained it, everything clicked for him, and the spirit was so strong, there was such an enlightenment there. Essentially I compared the truth of the gospel to a plate, and the time of Christ and the apostles it was one complete plate, The apostles and prophets support the plate and protect it. But people became wicked and killed the apostles, the plate, so to speak, fell and broke into many small pieces. The problem then was, is the church took pieces of the plate and called it the truth, which it was, but only pieces of it. But some other people saw different truth, and took different pieces of the plate... this is why there are so many christian churches today, and each of them have parts of the truth, but not all of it. 

He thought for a second and then asked, do you think God will ever bring back the full plate to the earth? Elder Evans and I smiled and we taught him about the restoration. It was incredible. Then we made out an appointment for next Saturday. I then asked him his name and he said "Tenzin". I wrote it down and thought, "ha, that's really funny, the sisters told me they found a golden investigator from Tibet and his name was Tenz... oh no..." 

The previous Monday I was talking to the sisters and they said that had an investigator who spoke English and a bit of German, and asked him if because he was being taught in English, if they should give him to us, I told them, that what ever ward he wants to attend, those missionaries should teach him. They were going to ask him and let us know. Well we happened to door into him, and teach him a full lesson. The funny thing was, is he had made an appointment out with the sisters for an hour later, and they were on the way there as we were leaving... They still ended up meeting with him, and he really likes both of us, so we will see what will happen. 

The sisters reaction was really funny when we told them that we had just taught their Golden investigator. I am pretty sure that the sisters in Munich consider me an investigator thief or something, because the night before I was calling some potentials that I had found in the book, and set up an appointment with one, when I found out that she had been meeting with the Sisters in Munich 3 for  8 months... She spoke perfect English, but was German...

Anyway that was cool. I don't have much time left, but Yesterday was quite crazy. So Like I said before Christiana came to church. I called her a few days earlier, and had told her to meet us at Innsbruckerring at 10:20 or so. Well that morning Elder Evans and I go, and we wait, and wait, and wait, I gave her a call but she didn't answer. In the meantime so people walked up out of the U-bahn, 2 guys and 2 girls who spoke English only, and they started mocking us with the most foul language I have ever heard, every single word they used, except for the prepositions  was vulgar. It was so putrid and vile, more than I ever thought was possible to come from a human mouth. They were walking away, so I just ignored them, because I knew there was nothing that I could say to them. 

At 10.30 we walked back down to the Platform and waited, and took the next U-bahn. We got quite a few stops, when I get a call from Christiana, asking if we are still meeting up for church, we said yes, and we made arrangements to meet at Sendlinger Tor, where we needed to switch U-bahns to get to church. Anyway, long story made short, because I am pretty much out of time, we met up with Christiana at Sendlingertor adt 11.05, church started at 11.30, we missed the u-bahn and had to wait ten minutes, ended up missing the bus, and waiting 10 minutes by Aidenbachstraße. 

We got on the bus, and as we were getting off to make the 7 minute walk to church it started to POUR, so much. I was pleading in Silent prayer that the rain would stop, because I was worried that they would be discouraged and not want to come (Christiana had brought her 3 daughters ages 12, 5, and 1, her husband wasn't able to make it this week). And as an answer to the prayer the thought came to my head "Trust me". "Alright" was my thought. 

Well we get off the bus and are ready to go, and it poured even harder. It didn't stop raining till we arrived at the church... of course it stopped when we arrived. Elder Evans and I had umbrellas, and had given them to Christianna and family to keep them dry. We showed up to church at 12.15 or so looking like we had just gone swimming... But they liked it and may come again next week. The husband, although he couldn't make it told the wife she needed to go and see if it is a place where they could worship, they are searching for a church. At the beginning the 12 year old was not very happy to be there, but afterwards she was asking if they are/could come back next week. 

"Trust me" who would have ever thought? Granted I went swimming and they stayed dry, I was soaked for most of church, but they had a good time! :-)

We will hopefully meet with them this week and teach them all together. :-) The Lord works in mysterious ways I will just say that. It was really hard on me, everything that happened, but the spirit was especially strong in the sacrament meeting, when we made it just in time to hear the high council man speak on eternal families, and sing hymn 300 families can be together forever... All in all it was very worth it. And if getting soaked to keep them dry didn't earn their trust, I am not sure what would... I am grateful that things happen according to God's wisdom and not mine, it always seems to work better that way. :-)

I wish you all a great week!

Love,
Elder Ryan K. Christensen

Parental Note:  We were able to skype Elder Christensen on Mother's Day for about an hour and 40 minutes.  It was AWESOME!!  We loved seeing his face, hearing his voice, and his laugh.  Those of you who know him know how fun that is.  He is VERY HAPPY and doing very well. 

He took some time to teach from the scriptures and talk with Josh about his upcoming mission.  That was so fun!  Each of the kids was looking up scriptures as he referenced them.  And we had a good family discussion.  

Best of all, he bore a very strong and powerful testimony of missionary work, the power of prayer, and his love of Heavenly Father.  What an amazing time we had. He even expressed some very loving  words for his brothers and sister.  Parents really like that!

Another Week has come and gone...

Well, this week was normal. Ups and downs as usual. Too many fallen out appointments. We had 3 appointments which we had accidentally scheduled for Sunday night at 6, and we had made out splits and had all the preparations to handle them. In order to prevent them from falling out we had called twice throughout the week to confirm everything. Then Saturday night, we find out that Ola, is working and can't be there. Ok, perfect now all we need to worry about is splitting with members for Charles (MIRACLE!!!!!) and then Familie Brucku. 

We had contact with Familie Brucku on Friday evening to confirm for Sunday at 6 pm. Charles we had made the appointment on Thursday. I call to confirm again with Charles. No answer. Then later he sends me a text and says " I be living in a small place, could I just come to your worship service?" I told him when and where it was, and then he texted and said he couldn't come tomorrow, but next week. :-( 

Alright, so now its just us and the familie Brucku, with Brother Backman (member of the bishopric) coming (Brother Brucku is a member and his daughter LOVES the church and the missionaries, but she is only 8 and can't come on her own) They haven't come to the church for awhile so we made an appointment and invited Brother Backman. Well, we were advised/chastised from brother Opare (who came with us to an appointment (which fell out on the spot)) that we should ALWAYS call 2 to 3 hours before and remind the family that you are coming, so that you know it won't fall out for sure. So we called, and called and called (over the space of 3 hours leading up to the appointment). No answer, so we cancel on Brother Backman, and we go by ourselves. Sure enough they weren't home. :-(

Yeah, but on the brightside Nataly and Loveth came to Church! Wait, you don't know who Loveth is. So nearly 2 weeks ago, on an U-bahn heading home I talked to Loveth, and got her phone number. We called out got her address, and long story short, we were able to finally meet with her on Tuesday, and we brought a brother Itama with us. It was a bit rough. She had a really hard time understanding, Brother Itama was a huge help on that, but it still had struggles. We then made out another appointment for this Monday, which fell out, but we met with her on Saturday evening, and had a really good lesson, and invited her to church. We went out and met her at Moosfeld, and had the absolute WORST luck getting to church. 

My word, we missed the first U-bahn by SECONDS, and had to wait 10 minutes for the next. Then at Sendlingertor ( I have mentioned before this very rarely ever works) we would have made it, if it were just her, but she had a 4 month old ( maybe?) daughter, and that caused us to JUST BARELY BARELY miss it. 10 more minutes we need to wait. Now we are in trouble, we are on the verge of being late to church. But to show you that God knows all and is in charge of all, we arrive and barely catch the bus, on which there were some other Nigerian Brothers specifically Brother Chuckwudi, who actually speaks the same Dialect as she does, and he is an INCREDIBLE member missionary, he immediately came and introduced himself, and they start speaking their dialect. She really liked it and will come again  next Sunday. 

Nataly is amazing. She made it to church! but was only able to make it to Sacrament meeting because then she needed to go work from 2 till 11 that night. She works as a traveling nurse, taking care of patients in their own homes. Because she works so late, she doesn't get home till midnight or so, then gets something small to eat, and finally gets to bed. She told us that she has a really hard time getting up in the morning, and was going to pray for the strength to make it to church. She made it! And we will meet with her again this week. :-) Things are amazing and she is really prepared. The current goal is for the 25th of May, but that won't work because the whole ward will be at the temple ( Frankfurt... outside mission boundaries :-P) and won't get back till Saturday night. So we will see what will happen. But things are going well.

Now about Charles, this is cool, so on Wednesday this week, we had the ENTIRE day free. As opposed to having an appointment somewhere in the day. So we spent the day going by on this list of potentials we had, and contacting in the area for an hour or so. For the first several hours nothing. Had a few people yell at us to go back to america where we belong, other than that, no one wanted to talk to us. So we keep going. Meanwhile  I am praying to find some people, that someone somewhere will listen to us. And finally within the last section of the day, we find ourselves walking from Pasing to Laim. BY NO MEANS A SHORT WALK. Talking to everyone on the way. We found 2 people by then, both of which we need to give a way. And then we get a phone call. A man, who calls himself Charles is on the phone and he says

"You guys put a note in my mailbox for my Woman, but she is in Africa now, and I don't know how to take the message of your church to her".

"Yeah, that would be difficult... would you by chance have any interest in hearing our message"

"Yes I would like to learn more about your church, and message." 

Haha, Elder Evans was on the phone and his reaction made me laugh

"Thats great, Thats just great, wonderful, awesome... [awkward pause]  uhh, when would you have time to meet?" It shows you how little that happens when someone requests to meet with us, we have no idea how to respond when that happens. 

We are excited. Then we found someone else later on after we were nearly to Laim. Awesome. Prayers are answered. 

This week was rather incredible, I love personal Study, I have come across a lot of things in the bible and through other doctorinal study that have left me with questions, what does this mean? Why is it here? how is it supossed to be interpreted? I have thought about asking President Miles, but instead I have tried something else. I say an additional prayer, and ponder on the verse. Then write down thoughts as they come. It has been a wonderful experience for me. All of my questions thus far have been answered and I continue to gain more light everyday. I have learned SO MUCH it is unbelievable new insights on things, as I ponder specific verses of Scripture are brought to mind, and sometimes, I can even see the verse on the page in my head. It is truly incredible. 

I am so grateful for that. Personal Revelation is Powerful, and I have used it in so many cases. It has really shown me how much God loves and cares for me, If I have a question, how to plan out District Meeting, or a lesson, or anything, I can go pray and ponder, and I know that I will recieve the answer. I know that to be true. And I know that each and every one of you will recieve answers likewise, when you put in the effort to ask with real intent. 

I need to go now, but I wish you all a wonderful week!

love,

Elder Ryan K. Christensen

What a week(end)!

Well this weekend has been a Huge roller coaster. I don't even know where to start really. We met with Nataly again, and we set a goal for baptism for the 25th of May!! We met her again today and things are still going really well! That was a huge highlight of last week. I am so grateful for that. 

Things went well, I don't know what else to add, we met with John as well last week, which was good. Sadly Bro. Opare wasn't able to come :-( But went alright none the less. 

My find is fairly fuzzy about this past week, and because its a new transfer I don't have my planner with me. All I can remember is this weekend we had Stake conference and Transfer Calls...

Well, I am staying here in Munich (YES!!) and I have now been made district leader. :-) I am excited for this additional chance to serve. It will be a completely new thing for me, and with this district there are special Challenges, but I am excited for it. And then there is stake Conference, which was absolutely incredible! :-)

The YSA Choir, that I was in sang in the adult session on Saturday night. Elder Boohm from the 70 spoke, he is from Holland. It was a fun talk, however one of the things that effected me the most was from Sister Kopischke, the daughter of Elder Kospishke I assume, she had a short talk but it was amazing, she related the chance she had to me someone who refines Silver ( I think it was her, maybe it was someone else, I don't quite remember) and she asked him 

"Do you really need to sit in front of the fire the whole time?" 

"Yes", he responded "If the silver is in the fire for even a few seconds to long it will ruin all of it". 

She then asked "how do you know when it is done?" 

"Simple" he said "When I can see myself in it" 

Man, that had so many scriptural applications to it that my mind exploded, and I missed the rest of the talk. Mainly in Maleachi 3:3 compared to Alma 5:19 as well as a number of Isaiah references and the hymn "How firm a foundation" "The flame shall not hurt the, I only design, thy dross to consume and they [silver] to refine" That was pretty amazing, I must say. 

Elder Boohms talk was good as well, he mentioned back when he was first called to serve in the 70 that Elder Kopischke ( who was at that point in time the president over the area) asked him how good his German was, he said that it wasn't very good at all. So Elder Kopischke told him to get a German book of Mormon and read it. He did, and at first it was hard but toward the end he had a better hold on it. Then Elder Kopischke put him in charge of the Frankfurt section of the Area. And then in the same conversation asked him what he was doing the next weekend. He had nothing and Elder Kopischke asked him if he could go and speak at a District conference in Erfurt. He agreed, then Elder Kopischke added "oh by the way, they don't speak any English at all". Elder Boohm said "Well surely there must be someone who can translate". Elder Kopischke responded "No, no translators, unless you want a 14 year old girl to translate for you [small pause] Good luck!" and then he hung up. 

Long story short he did a lot of praying for help, and was successfully able to organize it and go there and speak. Haha, this next part made me laugh really hard. He added, "I found out awhile later that I only made one mistake in the whole conference. In the adult session of the conference I wanted to tell the parents that they need to bear more testimony to there children. Instead what I actually said was that they need to bear more children..." This difference in German is so small. It made me laugh. "Zeugnis" in German is testimony, "Zeuge" is a witness, "bezeugen" is to testify but "zeugen" in one context means to have children, or in old English "Beget". :-) Oh, language mistakes, they are so funny. He then said "When I returned a few years later, I think they had doubled on members ;-)". 

And then there was sunday. Oh boy, that was an adventure. I sang solo on the tenor part of a song in a concert hall in Erding in front of the whole stake. Oh man thats a story. So first, this past week has been pretty rough on me and my Allergies, I have medicine and have been taking it regularly but I still woke up Sunday, with Cold like symptoms. And for those who know me, know that when I get a Cold, my voice gets very low. That is how it was, but after getting up showering etc. it went away and my normal voice was back. Well, the stake Conference took place out in a concert hall in Erding, about an hour or so away. We left early so that we ( Elders Helbig, Thomas, Evans and I) could participate in the Stake Choir. They were meeting at 8.55 to practice. Elder Evans meets some other missionaries there who he hasn't seen in a long time, so he starts talking to them and decides not to participate in the choir. Elder Helbig, who is fairly tone deaf felt bad that he was throwing the person next to him off, so he left. 

Now Elder Thomas and I are the only missionaries in the choir, which isn't all that big. Maybe 40 people or so. We practiced the first song 3 or 4 times all the way through. And then moved on to "I believe in Christ" It went well until the last verse, when the arrangement called for a key change. All of the sudden All the tenors decide that they are going to sing bass, because it is way to high for them. I and Elder Thomas were the only two that could sing that high, him in Falsetto and me at the very top of my normal range. Because of the key change, the tenor part now had a high F#, boy that was a stretch to get it, but I could! And could sing it loudly as well. We practiced it ONCE. I was still having problems with the tenor in places, but because Elder Thomas was there I was able to stay on pitch. I have only been really singing as tenor for the past few months or so. 

Anyway, the choir then has a 10 minute break before we sing prelude ( which was supposed to be the other song, not the really high tenor one). We all separated  Then it comes time to sing, we all walk back up there ( now because this was in a concert hall, and the stage wasn't that big, there were no choir seats, we just stood on a small riser in front of the pulpit). I get up there, everyone is there, except Elder Thomas... So now I am the ONLY missionary in the whole choir, and if that weren't bad enough, because all the tenors changing to basses they changed were they were standing. So now I was on the far right. 

Well, because of the position of that Piano, I blocked the pianists view, so I had to take 3 steps to the right. Wonderful. I am the tallest in the choir, I am standing on the backrow, I am now having to stand 3 steps separation from the other guys, and I have a name tag on my chest ( the only missionary in the choir) Also the only tenor. Could I possibly stick out anymore? I was looking for the giant flashing neon arrow sign saying "Hey look at ME!". 

There was a change in plans the song with the high tenor part was first... Oh boy, I look out and see Elder Thomas at the back row of the balcony with a "Whoops..." look on his face. I was so incredibly nervous. But I did it! And no one really noticed that I was the only tenor in the choir, despite it being a prominent part in some areas. I am grateful that for the help of the Lord during that song. I made a mistake, which through me off, but I quickly regained composure, and despite being terrified was able to sing the part. :-) 

That was my adventure yesterday. :-) The conference was other wise amazing. We performed two songs, the prelude and the opening song, with me standing out on the edge of the riser... anyway it was great. 

Well after writing all of that I don't have much time left. But things are going well, I am looking forward to another good week ahead. 

love,

Ryan K. Christensen