I Saw The Rains Down In Africa

Well, the week had quite the African theme to it, making for an adventure in and of itself.

For P-Day, Elder Sollis and I looked around a little in Siegen, but we were not able to come up with much to do.  The highlight of P-Day really was writing emails.  After P-Day, we had an appointment with an African member family, and talked about what the Gospel of Jesus Christ meant to them.  The next day was Frodo and Bilbo´s Birthday, and the day was spent driving in the rain to the city of Düsseldorf to get to Zone Conference.  It lasted the whole day, and was centered around the third missionary lesson: The Gospel of Jesus Christ.  The most peculiar part of zone conference, however, was the Food Nanny, a lady from a BYU show, showing up and giving a presentation about cooking.  You might as well have placed us in a studio and added cameras to her presentation, and it would have been an episode of her show.

Wednesday after lunch, my companion and I struggled for hours trying to get a brownie recipe right.  We had an appointment with multiple members, one of which was having a birthday, and we were volunteered by someone to make brownies.  Eventually though, we ran out of time and ingredients, and had to result to buying some cake in a store.  We then went to the African shop we go to every now and then, and managed to sit down with two guys and the woman who runs the shop, and talk about the Restoration of the Gospel.  It was cool because the lady who runs the shop bore testimony about the Church, and she isn´t a member!  After that appointment, we went to the multiple member appointment, and a member gave a presentation about joy and the Gospel.

Thursday we drove out to meet our American investigators.  Originally we had a plan to talk about one of the commandments, but we ended up talking about the Gospel of Christ, and inviting them to baptism.  They are really close to agreeing to be baptized!  We drove back to Siegen afterwards and visited the African shop again, and talked to multiple people there, and then asked the lady who owns the shop if she wanted to be baptized, and she said yes!  The next day we tried to meet with some members, met with an African investigator and his friend, and tried to fit in Weekly Planning all at the same time.

Saturday we tried to meet with another African investigator, but due to miscommunication, we ended up in the wrong town.  We also visited the African shop and taught a little bit more, and tried to meet with a member family, but when we got there, they had visitors and no real time to meet with us.  Finally, on Sunday it was Stake Conference in Dortmund.  There I was able to see multiple members I knew when I was in Paderborn, and see one of them receive the Melchizedek Priesthood.  Sadly, the man I baptized was not able to attend, but I heard he was doing well.  After that we met with a member and helped him set up a Skype account.  And that´s the week!

The Siegen church meeting house. 

Transfer Insanity

So out in the Germany Frankfurt mission, transfer day came and went again, only this time I was in the eye of the storm. The week started with P-Day, as usual, and the time was spent at a member's house for lunch, and scrambling to get my companion packed. Early the next day, we drove up to Dortmund for district meeting, and everyone said goodbye to Elder Pfleumer there, and then we drove down all the way to Frankfurt. From there, Elder Pfleumer stayed in the mission office to start learning the ropes of being a tech elder, and I went off with another Elder working in Frankfurt, and together we tried to deliver a copy of the Book of Mormon to a Russian, and we had dinner at a Pizza Place with some young adult members.

The next day was the day the new missionaries flew in from the states. What did that mean for me? It meant I ran around with Elder Pfleumer and the tech elders all day. We started off driving to the airport to meet the new missionaries and pick up their luggage. We then ran back and forth throughout the day between the mission home and the mission office. We also picked up the trainers for the new missionaries at the central train station, and transported everyone to a hotel at the end of the day.

Thursday was transfer day, and there I got to see past companions again, and meet my new companion, Elder Sollis. We drove back to Siegen despite rainy weather, slow traffic, and a car show in Frankfurt, making everything hectic. That evening we stopped by a member family to introduce my new companion. The next day we dealt with city registration and visa stuff for Elder Sollis, and we drove out to have an appointment with our American investigators. We ended the day planning for the next week. Saturday we saw some more members and visited the African Shop again, and found a new investigator. Sunday was a busy day because of ward council, having back to back dinner appointments, and learning about how to do secretary duties I have never done before. All in all, a pretty jam packed week.

Aaron and Elder Sollis

Unexpected Change

It was the final week of my 12th transfer serving in the Germany Frankfurt Mission, and this is what happened:

So on Monday for P-day, my companion and I tried on Lederhosen for fun.  Other highlights included as you may have noticed last week, checking out the new Star Wars VII toys, and attempting to meet with some members, and my companion tearing apart and rebuilding a hair cutting razor so it would work again.  Tuesday we drove in the rain to Dortmund for district meeting, and afterwards spent some time as a district hitting the streets and sharing the Gospel.  During that time, my companion and I found a power box with the Frankfurt Temple drawn on it, so of course I had to get a picture.  In the evening we played badminton with a member and refugees, and got a bunch of food from another member.  That was a surprise.

Wednesday we visited the member in the hospital again, the African shop we visit every now and then, and made cookies for the member that gave us a bunch of food the day before.  In return, the member gave us even more food.  Thursday we drove out to visit our American investigators, and talked about the Priesthood, and had lunch with them at a Chinese buffet.  We also visited a member, and helped him with some odds and ends, and listened to him talk for an extremely long time.

Friday we were hit with an unexpected phone call.  My companion got called to serve as a Tech Elder for the next transfer, something nobody was expecting.  We were surprised, but we still had work to do, and had a really good appointment with the member in the hospital about the Plan of Salvation.  The roommate for the member in the hospital even asked us who we were, and a few nurses, so it was fun to share the Gospel a little that way as well.  We also worked on making our own Plan of Salvation, something the mission is doing.  Saturday was the transfer call, where we found out how the next transfer will go down.  We also had time to visit an investigator, run some errands for the member in the hospital, and break the news that Elder Pfleumer was leaving to a few members.  In the evening we got a call from the current Tech Elders asking us to come to Frankfurt earlier than normal so Elder Pfleumer could learn the ropes of being a Tech Elder.

Sunday was a busy day, because we had the lady who runs the African shop come to church (we had to carefully plan as to how we could get her there) and we had a bunch of visitors from Utah come for Sacrament Meeting.  Because of that, I ended up translating the meeting for the ones who couldn´t speak or understand German.  I know the Lord helped me out there!  Elder Pfleumer gave his final talk in Siegen, and then we visited multiple members throughout the rest of the day so my companion could say goodbye.  It´s sad we only had six weeks together, but what can you do?  We had a great time together, and I hope what lays ahead brings a lot of miracles!

Wearing Lederhosen

Temple Power

The Force Is Awakening

It was the second to last week for my first transfer in Siegen, and this is how it all went down:

Monday was P-Day as usual, what wasn´t usual about the day though was we had a lunch appointment with some older members in our branch, and helped them configure their tablet with Apps from the Church.  Tuesday we traveled to Dortmund for district meeting, which was about finding people, and after that we visited the member who was in the hospital to see how he was doing.

Wednesday was interesting, because we had multiple appointments teaching about the Restoration of the Gospel.  The first appointment was with an older German man, who has met with missionaries before.  It turned out to be a rough appointment, because he was completely rejecting us, but we didn´t dare let him have the last word.  Immediately after that, we visited a shop run by the African lady who knows us, and she had us sit down and preach to a guy who was there.  So we taught about the Restoration again, and it went way better than before, and I could feel the truthfulness of what my companion and I were saying (plus it was in English, which makes things even easier.)  In the evening, we saw a news report about a news team that followed a Mormon family in Germany, and explained some stuff about the Church.  It was ok, could have been better, could have been worse.  Thursday we visited the member in the hospital again to help him out with some odds and ends, and visited the African shop again, and sat down and taught the Restoration to three guys, who were all willing to listen to us.  It was great!

Friday was the usual planning for the next week, which was followed by us finding a member who fell out of contact with everyone a while ago.  He´s moved to a different city out of our area, so he´s gone now, but somehow we caught him as he was visiting a friend in our area.  We also had dinner with the senior missionary couple who runs the branch.  Saturday morning we helped our American investigators move a fridge, and taught a little about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and we also visited a member in a developmental center and talked about Christ.  Sunday was fast and testimony meeting in Church, and we closed the week by visiting the member in the hospital.

Now it´s off to the final week of the transfer!

May The Force Be With You

Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!

Well, my week started in a zoo.  For P-Day we traveled to the city of Dortmund to gather as a zone and we went to the local zoo.  We had fun there, and of course some pictures were taken.  Immediately after P-Day, I went on a split with an Elder in my district in Dortmund, and we ran a Monday Family Home Evening Night in the Dortmund Church.

Tuesday we had district meeting, which was about the Holy Ghost, and then I continued on the split by visiting a member and an investigator who comes from Jamaica.  Even though the lesson we had planned with the investigator sort of fell apart, the lesson we did have focused on the needs of the investigator, and we had a really good experience.  Wednesday we ended the split and my companion and I went out to support a member in a hospital.  We also went out to visit a former investigator who has known the missionaries for a long time.  This lady runs an African shop, and while we were there we meet a couple of other people who all took an interest in our message.

Thursday was largely spent helping a member with his family history, and on Friday we planned for the next week, visited the member in the hospital, and met with a member and his wife (who is not yet a member), and talked about the Law of Chasity.  It turned into a really good discussion about the importance of families.

Saturday we had planned to work with a lot of the African people we know, but things didn´t totally work out.  Appointments fell out, people weren´t home or busy, etc.  Sunday came along, and self-reliance, physically and spiritually, seemed to be the theme of the meetings.  We had three investigators come to church, including our American investigators.  After church, we had a dinner appointment with a member and ended up watching the church film, "Legacy," with the member.  The week ended with call-ins with our district leader as usual, but this time I learned that the investigators I helped teach and found in Dortmund during the splits actually came to church, which was exciting to hear.

Until next week!

At The Zoo

Ultron went to the zoo too.

BONUS PICTURES

Sent especially to his little brother, Ryan

Look Ryan!  It's in Germany too!

May the force be with you!

Adventure Around Every Corner

I am now well into the middle of my first transfer in Siegen, and the adventure hasn´t stopped yet!  Starting off the week, for Pday we went around exploring the shopping region of the city so I could better familiarize myself with the city.  We ended up getting a parking ticket by accident, which we weren´t too happy about, but hey, what can you do?  After our Pday was over we teamed up with the senior couple that helps out our branch and visited a family in the branch.  A good experience.

Tuesday we helped out a member translate a letter from German into English.  Because I was the only English native speaker, I ended up doing a lot of the work.  After that, we were invited by an older member in Siegen to play badminton with his friends and students from the university in Siegen.  Elder Pfleumer and I ended up playing badminton with a bunch of guys from the Middle East who couldn´t speak German or English.  Wednesday we visited a member who was in the hospital to see how he was doing, and we drove out to meet our American investigators and had a good lesson and answered questions they had about how to read the Book of Mormon.

Thursday we drove up to Dortmund for district meeting, my first one in my new area.  After the meeting, I went on a split with our district leader in the city of Dortmund.  While on the split we passed out invitations to a Summer Grill put on by the church in Dortmund, and we stumbled upon a Romanian family that embraced us and the Gospel with open arms.  We were trying to find an apartment, and as we were going up the stairs, the family saw us as we walked by their door, and asked who we were.  Before we knew it, we were inside their home talking about how they wanted to come to church.  The next day before we split back we visited the family again and gave them copies of the Book of Mormon in Romanian, which they were excited about.  What a way cool experience!

Saturday was spent planning for the next week and getting into contact with members.  Sunday came along and we had three investigators come to church, probably a new record for my experiences on my mission, and after church we visited the member in the hospital again, with the senior couple, and in the evening we had dinner with a member.

Time is moving fast!

Ulton is still hanging around with the Elders

Defending Your Life

It has been quite the first full week for me here in Siegen, but it´s been a lot of fun!

Starting with Monday, we had a member call us wanting to meet us, implying we would go into a forest.  We ended up walking through a forest for something like three hours, while the member just talked with us.  There was a tower at one point along the path we were walking, and Elder Pfleumer and I got pictures up there.  After that we met with a family in our branch in the evening.

Tuesday we attempted to visit investigators, with some success.  We tried a potential investigator, but he was heading off to work and said we could try again on Saturday.  We then met with a woman who has known the missionaries for a long time.  She was friendly.  Other investigators or less active members we tried that day ended up not being able to meet.  Wednesday we met with two solid investigators.  They are a couple, and they come from America.  At one point, one of the investigators brought up the film "Defending Your Life" to try to get a point across, and thanks to my parents showing me that film years ago, I was able to understand where he was coming from and what he was saying!  In the evening we had some stuff come up in the branch that we had to take care of, because we have leadership callings in the branch.

Thursday we traveled to Dortmund for a zone training meeting.  There I was able to see a past companion of mine from Paderborn.  He is still there, and we were able to catch up, and I got to see some pictures of a recent baptism they had in a river in Paderborn.  That was really cool to see.  The meeting was all about the Plan of Salvation and practicing teaching this Gospel topic.  In the evening we came back to Siegen and took care of some more branch business.  Friday we planned for the next week, and met with the senior couple who is involved in our branch at an Asian restaurant, and discussed what we could do for the branch, and after that we went out to try to meet with a family in the branch.  Saturday we were able to meet the potential investigator and talk about the Restoration of the Gospel with him, that was a good experience, and we visited a member who is currently in the hospital.  We ended the day meeting with some more members in the evening.

Sunday came and we had a Ward Council meeting, which went well, and we had our American Investigators show up to Church!  I translated German into English for them during Sacrament meeting, something I haven't done much, but I for the most part was able to keep up.  After Church we helped the member in the hospital get some stuff in his apartment as he stays a bit longer in the hospital.  All in all, a good week.

Up in a tower in the woods.