From June 20, 2017...
Hey Mom!
I have had an awesome week, and I hope you have too. I´ll just jump right into it so I can give you all the details.
I
want to use this email to share with you the people we know and meet
with, because they have become very important to me in a very short
amount of time. The hard part is knowing who to start off with.
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| Europa Park |
So,
one of the people we meet most often with is Abby. Abby is so cool.
She´s about 21 years old, and has had a crazy life. She lived in England
for a long time, and some crazy things have happened to her throughout
her lifetime. She has a separated family, and lives on her own here in
Freiburg. Her life is kind of going crazy, because she has lots of emotional
issues, she´s been through alot. The missionaries met her on the street
not too long before I got here, and she decided to meet with them
because she really didn´t know what else to do. In the short time I´ve
had to meet with her we´ve become good friends. She asks a billion
questions in 5 minutes, but really really asks them, sincerely wanting
to know. Through the last couple weeks she has noticed the difference in
her life when she prays and when she doesn´t. When we meet and when we
don´t. It´s been really cool to see someone without a very impressive
understanding of who God is really evolve and learn and start applying
Gospel principles in her life. We meet once or twice a week and have
some awesome discussions. She even came to church for the first time
last week! She´s making slow and steady progress.
We also
meet with a man named George, who is also very interested in the Gospel.
He´s been meeting with us weekly for a while, and has come to church a
few times. He really likes the way we teach and interact with him, and
really sees a possibility that what we teach is true. He´s about 60
years old. He likes the Book of Mormon a lot and we´re meeting with him
tonight, as well.
We also meet with Regina, who is
the
nicest woman I have ever met. She´s 56 years old, and super fun to meet
with. When we met last time, there were no tables open at the cafe we
usually sit at, so she decided we should just sit next to this random
young family at their table!! So we walk over there and sit right down.
She spent the next couple minutes complimenting and getting to know the
family. She has social skills I envy. We ended up having a wonderful
discussion about the Plan of Salvation. She´s had a very tough life. But
she uses it and turns it around to do good for other people. She seems
pretty interested in what we have to say, and loves the concept of young
people going on missions.
We also met this one new guy
this week who is absolutely amazing. We went to his house because he
asked for a Book of Mormon on Mormon.org. We brought it to him, and we
asked him why he wanted it. He told us that he feels like he doesn´t
really have alot of direction in his life, and needs to find the way. He
said he looked around at the other churches,but none of them spoke to
him. That´s when he found
Mormon.org. He told us he didn´t really have
much of a Christian background, and that it was our job to lead him
through it. He wants us to teach him about Christ, and told us he wanted
to come to Church meetings before we even said anything about it, so
he´s coming to church!! He´s a single Father of 3 sons and he´s about 50
years old. His name is Johannes.
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| Viktor & Lukian came with us. |
We also meet weekly with
a member named Miara. Miara is the strongest member of the church I
have ever met. She´s probably around 30 years of age, and very very
sick. She has a crazy amount of illnesses. She has Epilepsy, Diabetes, 2
rare forms of Asthma, blood diseases, organ failure, and some other
things. She has to take over 40 pills a day, and receives daily visits
from different Doctors. But she´s super strong, and a very strong member
of the church. She´s such an example for me, becuase she just powers
through. She loves it when we visit, and we love visiting her. We have
kind of a Sunday School lesson because she can´t come to church. When I
think life is hard, I just think about her.
We also have a
guy who got baptized only a month ago, and his name is Eddy. Eddy is
hilarious. He´s from Africa, and is a strong convert to the church
around 30 years old. We meet with him once a week and have a good time
teaching him more about the Gospel. He loves to tell stories. This week
he told us that one of his pastors in Nigeria was preaching one time,
and he started listing off a crazy long list of things that will damn
you to hell, including but not limited to:
Taking seconds for food at a
party before anyone else, and cutting in line. Lots of things like
that. In the middle of the sermon, Eddy interupted and said: Whoah, hold
on a minute! Pastor! If all those things are true, that means we´re all
going to Hell! It was so funny. He told us that one in Sunday School.
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| Elder Walton asleep again. |
Our
friends also include our 24 year old ward mission leader Kai, who´s a
huge bro and is really good with the missionary work, Samy, who is
confined to a wheelchair due to his paralysis that he got last year in a
car accident, and Francis, a less active African man who prays for 15
minutes straight when we ask him to say the closing prayer. He yells
too, more often than not. It is quite a spectacle.
So that´s some of the people we know. :) I love these people, and know that I am here for a reason.
Other
than that, we had some great experiences this week! After district
meeting we went to eat all you can eat spaghetti for 4.50, and I ate way
too much, I thought I was going to throw up for an hour. It was good
spaghetti though! We also have been helping the Foster family move back
to America, by helping them through the crazy process one has to go
through to sell an apartment in Germany. (Remind me to tell you later.)
And
that´s pretty much it. :) I am happy, healthy, and doing well. This
week has been an amazing one for sure. I know the Lord is looking out
for me, and giving me the ability to do things I never would have been
able to do before. I love you very much Mom, and hope you enjoy the
email!!
I love you and miss you, and can´t wait to see you again!
-Tanner
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