Germany in 9 days!!

Today is great!! I got to use my new camera, and it's P-day! I ALMOST won again in four square. Elder Deus has that honor today. My week was awesome, perhaps the greatest growing week in my whole life. I'll get to that later. I am SO PUMPED for Germany. I can't WAIT. Speaking of that... I got my travel plans!! I'm leaving in 9 days!!!  (Well, now he's leaving in 6 days since I posted this later)  AGH! I'll get you more details later, but I should be able to call you guys around 12 pm. Be prepared!

Germany will be great. I've met a few Germans over skype, and I think I'll love the people and the place. no, I WILL, love the people. 

Thanks for sending my contacts!! I'll be very grateful. I hate cleaning off my Brille (glasses) all the time. 

I'm so glad you had a great birthday!! WOO! Shön Gebortstag, meine Muttie!! I'm happy to hear about your great bday! Sorry about the chair ;) hope whoever restored it didn't have too much trouble with the dents. Very cool! Skylar wrote you a song?? Did you cry? :) Remind her to record her song for me on a CD and send it to me!!

I'm really glad you guys are back into Tennis. I miss it here. I've been channeling all my sport energy into 4 square. I've gotten so good that i play better foursquare than i ever played tennis. I'm like a pro! We're using spin and stuff! 

(Referring to the girls) Why is everyone growing up?? Meine Gute, people! I'm only gonna be gone two years people, can you wait that long?? Haha it's weird to hear about everyone growing up while I'm gone. 

Thank you for sharing your testimony mit me, Mom. It's a great strength to my own. I love you very much and I'm very very happy to know that you made the right choices. You've been the best mom in the world. No contest. Thank you so much. You and Dad have been the best examples for me, and I'm happy to be out here serving a mission. Y'all taught me Recht. 

This week was the week of greatest growing in my life so far. Since I've been here, I discovered that I have a huge obstacle to get over. I cannot, in any way shape or form, for any reason whatsoever, explain something simply. I've never been able to do it. For some reason, my brain says: no! And that is an obstacle because, a testimony does not come through knowledge, it comes through simple truth, and faith. I have a lot of trouble teaching simply. 

This week I studied really hard and practiced so much to teach simply. I thought I was so ready to teach, and had so much Faith that the Lord would help me. I had faith, we planned well, and we studied hard. But in the next investigator lesson, It was chaos. We went off on so many tangents that didn't matter, and I couldn't explain anything simply. I was devastated. I left the room feeling like a failure. Then afterwards my companion and I had a really good conversation. We talked about how this is my big trial. The Lord is testing my endurance. He's testing my faith. I'm happy to say that my faith didn't waiver, but my self confidence did. I felt alone during the lesson. But I decided then and there that it was not a failure, just another learning experience. We persevered, and decided next time would be better. 

I said a very sincere prayer, perhaps the most desperate prayer in my life, begging Heavenly Father to help me to speak simply. I promised I would study harder and work harder and trust the spirit more. Immediately afterwards, I heard the words clear in my head. Perhaps the most clear voiced revelation I have ever recieved. I heard the words: "It is well."

That simple but powerful statement lifted me up and I felt God's love and the Spirit with me once more. When we arrived at the door of our next investigator, I felt the Angels helping me. We sat down and taught the most amazing lesson we've ever taught. Our companionship was stronger than ever before, and the spirit taught through us. We ended getting through the entire lesson about the Restoration, and he expressed his desire to follow Christ. 

My friends and Familie, trust in the Lord. Trust. In. The. Lord. Lean NOT unto thine own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge HIM. and HE shall direct thy paths. That is the promise. I'm glad I learned this valuable lesson. Sometimes we can do things right and still bad things will to uns happen. That's life. EMBRACE IT. LOVE IT. And the Lord will show his Love to you.

One more awesome story for you guys.

We were in a devotional and we had a really good talk. The spirit was strong and everything, just like any other devo. But this time we sang "The Spirit of God" for the closing him, and a miracle happened that is indescribable. We started feeling the spirit really unnaturally strong in the first verse, and it kept building. We sang louder and louder, and then right as the third verse started, we heard it. Angels. We heard Angels singing. With us. The number of voices in the room became innumerable, and we heard far more voices than there were people in the auditorium. We kept turning around to see who was singing, as did the people down below in front of us (we were in the choir) but saw no one. 

Then all of a sudden, we could see in our minds the Angels singing with us. We could see Jesus Christ's face smiling at us in our minds, and our voices raised to match those of our unseen brothers and sisters. It was touching beyond any experience I have ever before had. Half of the congregation started crying, and my companion and i were choking up on the last verse. I sang with a faith I had never before felt, and the words pierced my soul. The ending line was sang slowly, loudly, and with such great power. It was beautiful. It was magnificent. It was a miracle. I hope there's a choir in Heaven because I want to join it. I wish I could hear those voices every day of my life. It was the most powerful spiritual experience I have ever had. 

Ok, that's it :) Love you guys!!!

Alright! After that intense story, it's time for this week's shenanigans!! 

Here we go: 

-Elder Barker tried to break open the seal on his pre-packaged cereal bowl with his plastic spoon. With an epic battle cry he leaped upon the outside table, and thrust his spoon into the seal. His spoon immediately shattered into a million pieces. We died laughing. It was like Gimli breaking his axe on the ring. It was so epic. 

-Elder Scalese got pranked in the bathroom. He was in the stall, and Elder Sproul was in the stall next to him. Elder Sproul had a water bottle with a small hole in the cap. When Elder Scalese shifted his foot towards Elder Sproul to be funny and Elder Sproul sprayed some water on it. Elder Scalese leaped up and shouted: Did you just pee on my FOOT??" It was glorious.

-Elder Barker and I have been working every night during personal time, constructing the Armor of God out of the cardboard we get from packages. It's epic.

Elder Barker.  Costume making, even on his mission!  :)

That's a short list of shenanigans today, but if I think of any more, I'll let you know!!

I love you all. Thank you for letting me share my weeks with you. Hope you all have a great Woche. 

Auf Wiedersehen!! 

Love, Elder Tanner Larson.