Welcome To Schweinfurt

A new start to a new transfer (the 8th transfer, to be exact)!

For my last Pday in Paderborn my companion and I found a place to go bowling, which was a lot of fun, and before I left Paderborn I got to say goodby to Br. Seeger and Herr Vogt, and go out to eat with them.  It was a good time, and I am happy to have served in Paderborn.

Transfers was busy, did a lot of traveling, getting little sleep, and trying to carry three suitcases of luggage with me, glad it is all over now.

Arriving to Schweinfurt, I met my new companion, Elder Wilde, and the other two Elders in Schweinfurt.  The next morning we spent a lot of time at the Bishop´s house doing renovations, and our entire district was there to help out.  It was a good time, and it looks like we could be doing a lot of service there these next few weeks.  The days following involved a lot of knocking on doors, because that it what you do in Schweinfurt.

On Sunday I got to meet the ward, which is the size of a branch because the American Military base closed down recently.  I would say it is about the same size of Paderborn, maybe a little bigger.  Everyone is friendly, which is good.  Sunday evening I got to do my first call ins with the elders in my district as district leader!

Schweinfurt is an interesting place.  It is small, and feels different from anything I have done before on my mission.  There are multiple Elders here however, and the bishop here is a huge help in missionary work, which is cool!  Should be a fun time serving in Schweinfurt!

Until next time!

Last Pday in Paderborn

Saying Goodbye to Elder Crittenden, 

Brother Seeger and Herr Vogt

Aaron and his new companion, Elder Wilde

Final Week In Paderborn

My last full week in Paderborn flew by so fast!  It honestly seems like a blur just trying to think back on it.  From what I can recall, Monday evening after P-Day my companion and I met with Br. Seeger and our investigator, Herr Vogt.  Tuesday we did some doors at the University, and we were let in by a Muslim guy and taught the first missionary lesson, but he was pretty set in his religion.

Wednesday was District Meeting, and afterwards we all went out to an Italian Restaurant, and directly after that we headed to a part member family from Bulgaria and were fed real Bulgarian food.  My companion ate too much at the restaurant, so he was struggling with finishing off the Bulgarian dinner.  It all went well, however.  The next few days were spent continuing meeting with Br. Seeger and Herr Vogt, teaching the commandments, and more work with members.

Friday, however, was when I learned that I would leave Paderborn.  I received a call from the mission president, telling me that I would be serving as a district leader with the new transfer that is coming up.  Saturday morning, for the transfer call I learned that I will be moving to the area of Schweinfurt.

Concerning everything else that happened throughout the week, we discovered that the FC Bayern soccer team was spending a night in the hotel across the street from us.  We had to get a picture of the bus!  We did service again at the other church, and this time we got to share a little about what we do as missionaries.  We also had the opportunity to teach Sunday School on Sunday, which ended up going really well, and to end the lesson I told the branch I was leaving Paderborn.  One member´s eyes nearly popped out when I dropped the news, that was pretty funny!  Of course, for Sacrament meeting I was asked to share my testimony, which was actually harder to do than I thought.  Being in Paderborn for seven months is a long time!

So Thursday I head out to Schweinfurt, where I will meet my new companion and district.  It has not been an easy time in Paderborn, but it has been a good time.  I was blessed to see a baptism during my time in Paderborn, and close to a second one!  I feel like I have learned a lot and my testimony has become stronger these last seven months.  I will never forget Paderborn.

Aaron with the FC Bayern Soccer Team Bus

Aaron having to say goodbye to Brother Seeger

Another Baptismal Date!

This week began with a split with a brand new missionary who just got to Germany.  Together we had a member appointment, where I ended up completely teaching the lesson and then we did some finding time on the streets of Paderborn.  It was an interesting experience to be with a missionary that was brand new.

Our meetings with Brother Seeger and his friend, Herr Vogt, have continued to go well, and this week we were able to set a baptismal date for the 14th of March!  We were not totally sure how that would turn out, because the man always falls asleep during our lessons, and it seemed like he was set on getting baptised around Easter, but it all worked out!

For Karneval, in the morning we ended up doing some insulation work for service at a Lutheran church.  We were not sure what we were getting ourselves into heading over, so we just came in our normal white shirt and tie attire.  They had stuff we could wear over our missionary attire, and it ended up being a good experience.  We then had an apartment cleaning check, and right when that was going on there was a Karneval parade right across the street.  There were a lot of people dressed up in costumes.  We then made our way over to a party put on by our branch in Paderborn, which was also fun.

To end the week we were able to meet with the Branch President and his family, and teach them the first missionary lesson, the Restoration.  It was a really good experience, and it is always fun to be with that family.

Ultron had some P-day fun, too.

Until next week!

Ulton with a replica of The Dom (Landmark of Paderborn)

Ready to help do insulation work

Aaron and Elder Crittenden

A Week of Finding

Talk about an interesting week!  There were not a lot of appointments so much of the time was spent out on the streets or on the university campus in Paderborn.

To start the week, after Pday we met with Brother Seeger and Herr Vogt, and provided some treats and watched the Church film, "The Testaments."  Brother Seeger was tearing up/crying pretty much through the entire film.  That was fun to do with them!

Tuesday and Wednesday were spent doing a street display in the area of Unna and dooring students at the university.  Not too much progress was seen those days.

Thursday was the highlight of the week because we took a blank day and turned it into a pretty good day.  The appointments we had planned fell out, and the places where we went to look to do service didn´t work out, so we had the entire day to spend talking to people.  We started by trying to give out copies of the Book of Mormon in the city center, and we got one out there, but we were not having much success.  We decided to move to the university campus, and from there we were able to get three copies out.  After dinner we went back to the University and did doors and were able to get three more copies out making seven total that day.  We made the day a contest between our district and zone leaders to see who could get out the most copies, and we totally blew everyone out of the water with seven copies.  We also saw a train transporting tanks that night, I gave a pass along card to a nun, and a student used a satanic Bible to repel us at the door!  Pretty cool day!

Friday we had a zone training meeting, and Saturday we had a few appointments, and on Sunday we got to teach the primary for the second hour of Church, which was fun.

Carnival is this week, and Brother Seeger and our investigator, Herr Vogt, are excited for the holiday.  They arrived to one of our appointments in their costumes for the holiday, so I had to get a picture.  Let you all know how this week goes next week!

Ready for Carnival

Aaron and his companion

Rain and Snow!

The weather lately has been unpleasant, but the work marches on!  I have seen a lot of rain and snow this week, but somehow I have pretty much been able to stay dry, so I am pretty happy about that!

I got to start the week with a split in Unna.  The animal for Unna is the Donkey because it is stubborn, and that describes Unna pretty well.  Got a picture with the statue in Unna.  After the split we had a district meeting and an interview with President Stoddard.  That all went well.  After that my companion and I decided to go out and try to find some less actives that lived farther away, because we had a ticket that could get us around.  We ended up walking in a middle of a storm and got caught in a lot of rain.  I am thankful for my umbrella!

To sum up the rest of the week, we did some doors around the University, and had some positive experiences there, and multiple appointments with Brother Seeger and his friend.  We went over the plan of salvation, and Brother Seeger loved every minute of helping out with teaching it to his friend.  The friend, Herr Vogt came to church with Brother Seeger, and he got up and bore his testimony during sacrament meeting, that was really cool!  The week ended with a member apointment and teaching the first lesson and inviting them to give out pass along cards to their friends.  The spirit was pretty strong during the lesson and was a great experience, the members loved it!

Until next week!

Aaron in Unna

Biking In The Snow

The weather has been picking up lately in Paderborn, including a lot of rain and snow.  It has been an adventure riding bikes with the weather!  So far no crashes or disasters, and I hope it stays that way.

The week consisted of something to do every day, which was awesome!  We have been helping our recent convert, Brother Seeger, with FamilySearch a lot lately.  We have been meeting him at the church, and walking him through how to do things, and he has been loving it.  We also had some experience with new investigators.  We were able to make an appointment with an older couple that came to church last week and give them a copy of the Book of Mormon.  We didn´t get to teach much, because the man just kind of talked the whole time, and then took us on a bike ride so he could show us where the baptist church was in Paderborn.  That was an unexpected thing to be doing.  We also met a friend of Brother Seeger who is now an investigator.  Brother Seeger brought this man with him one day when we were going to meet for FamilySearch.  The friend saw a painting in the church, which caught his attention, and from there we were able to give him a tour of the building, and give him a copy of the Book of Mormon.  We met together with Brother Seeger and his friend the days following and went through the first lesson, and the friend came to church.  Brother Seeger is loving being involved in missionary work.

It has been a great first week together with my new companion, things are looking really positive.  I would say from my experience this week that blessings from Heavenly Father do happen!

Aaron biking in the snow.

A New Companion In Paderborn

My seventh transfer has arrived, and so has my third companion!

The week started with getting my companion packed up and ready to travel out of Paderborn.  He said goodbye to our recent convert, Brother Seeger, and then we were off to the city of Dortmund.  During that time I got to go on a split in Hagen with an Elder in my district and then a split in Dortmund with an Elder I was with in the MTC.  It was a fun time and got to explore these other areas a bit more.

Thursday evening I met Elder Crittenden and we traveled to Paderborn.  The next day we had a district meeting to meet the new district, and then we met with a part member family afterwards.  Saturday we continued to meet with a few members and had some interesting experiences with others we met while out and about.  We had an experience where a woman saw us as we were walking to the apartment of a member, and she was wondering what was up with us.  She ended up walking into our appointment, and while she didn't stay the entire time, she did stay long enough to feel the spirit.  Weird experience, but cool.

On Sunday we had a member bring some friends to church, and we are now planning to visit these people so we can talk with them and give them a copy of the Book of Mormon, which is super cool!  We also ate together with the branch and met with Brother Seeger.

I am excited to have a new companion in Paderborn.  This is my first time serving with an Elder who is younger on the mission than me, and I am the senior companion.  So far it has not been anything to worry about, and I wouldn't  have it any other way.

Aaron with his new companion