Who said missionary work couldn´t be fun sometimes?‏

This week was kicked off with a split with my district leader.  While we were out talking to people, we wandered over to the cemetery where a light show was going on.  We were talking to a lady who was very friendly and interested in meeting with missionaries, and then without us saying anything, she bought us tickets to the light show that was going on!  It was very kind of her to do, and my district leader and I had a lot of fun with it.

Throughout the week, we met with some investigators, made brownies for a member, and visited a few part member families, who were all very friendly.  We met with our homeless investigator a few times throughout the week, it has gotten to the point where he actually calls us to meet now because he wants to talk with us!  I was hoping we would be able to invite him to baptism this week, but it never happened, and I am dying now to just ask him!  At one point he was teaching his friend about the Book of Mormon and testifying to the guy, he has a rock solid testimony of the Book of Mormon.  He also came to church this week in his suit, which surprised all of the members.

Another highlight in church was the member we have been working a lot with receiving the Aaronic Priesthood.  It was such a great moment, and later in church he got to pass the sacrament.  It was so cool to see!

It was pretty cool week, and I feel privileged to have been a part of everything that happened.  I absolutely love it when we see others progressing, the feeling you get from it is so fulfilling!

 Aaron at the light show

 Also at the light show

Making brownies

Crazy Member Work!

This week consisted of working a lot with a member, getting him ready
for the priesthood!

We meet with him every week, and this past week we met with him like 5
times! We went suit shopping with him, and Sunday he came to church
the first time wearing a white shirt, tie, and suit, which impressed
the branch. I have included a picture so you could all see. We found
out that next week he will receive the Aaronic Priesthood, which is
pretty exciting!

Outside of that, my companion took care of his German Driver License
stuff, in which I have included a photo, and we have a new
investigator! My companion found him on the bus a few weeks back, and
we were able to get an appointment made and shared the message of the
restoration with him. We gave him a Book of Mormon, and he said that
he had already been praying to find the true church, which was pretty
cool!

We were also able to meet with our homeless investigator again, while
walking down the street we ran into him. He got himself a suit for
church, which he was pretty excited about. Unfortunately, while he
tried to make it to church, he didn´t quite make it. Hopefully next
week he can make it!

As always I will keep the posts coming every week. This is an
exciting work, and it is wonderful to see people make progress and see
the light develop in their lives!

 Aaron working with his member,

who is going to get the priesthood!

Driver License Fun

Mission Conference

This week was an unusual one, but it certainly had some great highlights!

To start off with, for Pday we got together with Elders in the area of Hamm and explored an abandoned factory.  There was a lot of interesting grafiti to see, and it was interesting to see how the building has been treated over the years.  Oh, the things missionaries do for Pday!

Unfortunately, all of our previously planned appointments fell out during the week, so we didn´t get too much teaching done.  We were able to meet with a member multiple days to help him prepare to receive the priesthood, which is exciting!  On September 11 we spent the entire day doing service for a member who is in another area, but works in our area.  We helped him move furniture for a place where he hopes one day firesides will be held, and then helped him clean out trash out of a woman´s apartment.  This member was grateful for our help, especially when it was short notice for us, and he even gave us a referral!  We also helped out with a street display in Unna, which was fun.

The big moment of the week though was the mission conference.  Elder Ballard, Hallstrom, and Teixeira.  Elder Teixeira talked about how his family was found by the missionaries, and about finding people.  Elder Hallstrom talked about how missionary work is increasing, and Elder Ballard talked about the importance of internalizing the doctrine and being yourself and having a positive attitude.  It was a really cool experience to have, and it was also fun to have the entire mission gathered in one place and talk amongst each other.

Out of all of the things said, I think the point about being yourself hit me the most.  It really is important to know who you are, and that makes you all the more unique.

Until next week!

Kissed By A Homeless Man

This week I learned that I will be staying in Paderborn, with my current companion, but that was probably one of the less exciting things that happened this week.

For Pday we went to Dortmund and did some shopping.  We ended up going to the soccer stadium there, where the the Dortmund BVB team plays (this team seems to be a favorite, out of all of the German soccer teams).  That was cool to see, even if we did kind of just wander into it not knowing if we had permission to go in there or not.

We got our bikes repaired this week, which needless to say, makes our bike rides a lot better now, and the bikes run much smoother, which is a great feeling.  Our brakes actually work now!

The most exciting thing though, was our new investigator.  Our homeless friend I believe I mentioned earlier in another email became a new investigator for us when we found a triple combination scripture for him (Book of Mormon, D&C, Pearl of Great Price).  We shared a short lesson, in which I shared a scripture.  After I shared it, he kissed me on the cheek, which needless to say was awkward for my companion and I.  This guy is a very happy man, and has funny ways of showing it.  We committed him to come to church, and the next day he did!  He participated in all three hours of church, and even sort of shared his testimony during the testimony meeting!  It was exciting to get someone to church, and for him to have a good time.

This week will be fun, a whole new transfer, let you all know how it goes next week!

Aaron at the Stadium

A Good Week

This past week was pretty good, missionary work wise!  We were able to get into contact with a few people we had been trying to for a while and had another good zone meeting.

Finding this week, didn´t go exactly as planned (does it ever?)  but we did talk to a guy who was really friendly and open and became a referral for missionaries in another area, and we talked to a Hobo who was incredibly happy to see us.  He had had experiences in the past with missionaries.  It was cool.

Outside of finding, we tried to contact a less active member, but he wasn´t around, but later in the day he actually called us.  He is a super busy guy (he is a doctor) but he was very happy to talk with us and we will be able to meet with him sometime later this month.  We also met with a former investigator, who was super friendly, and we gained a new investigator.  The new investigator is from Africa, and she will be returning there sometime soon, but we were able to pretty much give her the lesson of the Restoration and introduce her to the Book of Mormon.  It has hard, because she was having a hard time accepting anything outside of the Bible, and this other German guy who started to listen in on our conversation had to go all Catholic on us, but she did take the copy of the Book of Mormon and was open to meet again.  Hopefully we can move forward with this experience!

This week certainly had it´s hard aspects, but at the end of the day, it was all pretty positive.  I know that trying to do your best with this work, you will receive help in your efforts from the other side, which is a blessing!

[Aaron was at a place where he couldn't upload pictures this week. -Aaron's Mom]