Transfers

Well, this week was good old transfers and I am now being "golden busted" Elder Bruneel has been transfered out to Dusseldorf and I am now taking over the area with a guy who came out 6 weeks before I did...sweet. We´re going to rock it out here hahaha. We actually ended up having 5 new investigators this week but one of them gave us a call this Sunday and she basically told us that she didn´t want any more contact. She was nice about it though, which doesn´t happen to often so at least she put the buffer up when she rejected us XD Sometimes we´re just planting seeds, either way the gospel will roll forth!! This week was actually pretty hard. I didn´t really notice it to much during the early parts of the week but around Thursday is when things really started to kick in. I think the Lord likes to give me the weekly "refiners fire" I would assume that I had learned by now not to get too prideful but alas, my head needs to lose some serious swelling. We had a lot of appointments scheduled and just everything dropped out. It was a little disappointing because we were really excited for some of these appointments. We kept chugging along though and on Friday we ended up getting 4 new investigators. Oh and just so you know, with investigators you won´t normally consider them an actual investigator until you´ve taught them a lesson and they have a return appointment...continuing on haha. So we had a basketball appointment with this guy named Annestus in the church. (he´s from greece) And he ended up bringing three of his friends so we had some pretty solid basketball going which was a lot of fun!! Afterwards we were able to give them a church tour and we started out in the family history center. I was able to tell the story about...oh no, I just spaced on the name...well one of the people on our family tree...hahaha I´ll just call it the story of the rocks. It was sweet though, talking about how the rocks were too hot and eventually he found out he had gone over the rattle-snake den etc. And these guys were just soaking it in!! They were so excited to do family history you wouldn´t believe it!! After that we were able to go over the first vision, prophets, etc. and they just ate it up. We then went to the sacrament room and we talked about the sacrament and such and they were so quiet and respectful.

They then took the Greek Book of Mormons from us and they wouldn´t let go of them XD and they just kept saying, "Can I really have this? You really want to give this to me?" Just so great!! We´re going to be meeting with them again on Saturday and hopefully a couple times next week. Either way I hope that everything is going so well for you all!! I just want to end this with my new favorite scripture that I found last week. It´s in 2 Nephi 4. It´s nephi´s psalm and it really was so empowering to me. I hope that you all take the time to read it, especially verse 26 to the end, It really is so great!! I just can´t get enough of how special the scriptures have become to me. The amount of insight that we can gain from it is immense. Turn to them often, I didn´t do that as much as I should have before the mission and I truly regret it. You all are so awesome! The church is true!! Enjoy conference and Happy Belated Birthday to all those that I haven´t said happy birthday to. You know who you are...even though I don´t ;) Hehehe okay I do, at least, I think I know them all. Either way, happy birthday!!

Tschüss!

Elder Lee

Cheese.

Hello Family!! 
So I began this letter with the title of the thing that affected me the most this week....I´ll just let you imagine as to the why until I get to it ;) So this week has been just as crazy as the last!! I just can´t get enough of this Hastening of the Work. It really is so awesome to see the success we have been having. I think that we are mainly working with a lot of planting as well as harvesting. I am still trying to decide as to which one it is since it changes up on us so often XD Our appointments this week were great though! We ended up getting a lot of inactives back in church this sunday and things are going well with our investigators. This week was a little bit harder that way because oftentimes our investigator appointments would fall out for one reason or another so that was a little bit lame but we always make sure to keep extra busy so I didn´t have much time to think about it. We did have a sick investigator appointment with the guy we played basketball with. He ended up coming to the church on Wednesday to play some ball with us and ended up staying for mutual when we went through drills and all of that with the kids. He ended up doing a lot of teaching as well and he really said he had such a good feeling and that he loved being with all of the kids. We then taught him a lesson after we were finished and he is going to come next week and participate in the Tema we are giving the kids next week. So SICK!!!! We also had some really good basketball with some other investigators so that went well. I ended up getting some pics and printing them off of my paintings. We showed them at one of our appointments and they want to commission me for a couple hahaha and then in that same appointment we had one of the nonmembers there say that she wanted to be baptized!!!! I also got the wonderful opportunity this week to eat some traditional German food. A lot of it was really tasty...some though...was not. I ate a wonderful food called blood sausage. It tasted exactly the way it was defined. I think if I ever want to eat it again I´ll just cut my finger and chew on that for a little bit :P I then got to try the cheese....I figured there literally was only one way to describe it. It tasted like someone farted in my mouth. I took two bites and I just about lost it on the table. I normally have a pretty solid stomach but this cheese worked me on a whole new level. For a second there I thought that the family we were with were playing a joke by feeding us this cheese but Elder Bruneel loved it...he was just pounding the stuff. I guess it must have reminded him of home back on the farm hahahaha Oh, we did have a really awesome night this week! We ended up giving out ten Book of Mormons in the space of an hour! I was feeling way sick cause I had to stuff my face at two appointments but we still went out and did some solid walking and running for that hour haha. There was a strike so for the last couple of days we have had no busses or trains in the city which has been pretty difficult. It made me Golden split with Elder Nilson a party though. Two Guys with no idea where they were, trecking it out in some side stadt trying to find a house among millions. I think I could use that as the beginning credits for some awesome movie...just saying. We then had another split that Elder Nilson and I went on and it just started straight up pouring. So we´re outside trying to get into a members house for a lesson and we are just getting soaked through. It was so funny, Elder Nilson just kept jumping up and down trying to yell over the fence to get them to come out and I was just feeling all of the rain running down my back into my pants...not a comfortable experience but it was totally a blast!!! Gotta love  how the Lord makes things especially fun when you have two newbies walking around XD Well, I have to take off now but I love you all!! It has been so great hearing from you and I am grateful you got the letter!! I always have you in my prayers and I can´t wait to hear from you next week!!
Tschuss!
Elder Lee

Definitely a week of Miracles.

Can I just say that this week has been absolutely insane!! Either it´s something in the food or we are on a spiritual high because this week has rocked!! I guess we should start with day one. Monday. So Monday was a lot of fun!! We were able to have a good time playing games and just relaxing for a while which was really needed. I then made some spaghetti for everyone for lunch with one of the guys in our ward. His name is Robin Dietrich and he is sick! His wife is a new convert and her year mark from her baptism was yesterday, which means that they get to go into the temple soon! So awesome! I am so pumped for them! We then got to meet with one of our investigators named Constantine. He works with Gold and he is really cool. The appointment went really well and he said that he wanted to come to church and also to have more lessons with us! After that we had to go to our appointment with one of our inactives Andreas Nikulshin. The appointment was so sick because I brought the guitar that I had bought a while back (Don´t worry it was cheap XD And it has kept me plenty sane in the last little while which has been much needed hahaha) So anyways, I brought my guitar because I wasn´t able to drop it off back at the apartment before our appointment. Ends up that Andreas plays guitar! So he had me sing and play the guitar which was definitely an interesting experience but he absolutely loved it!! He then ended up playing for us and singing as well. So cool! He then said that I have to bring my guitar again and that we will practice an English hymn and we will perform it at church. Heck, best way to get an inactive back in church in my mind!! So that was awesome! Then on Tuesday we had Zone training and that really was just such a spiritual meeting that I was just blown off my feet! Okay, I just tripped and bashed my head on the way down...okay, not really hahaha but it really was such an amazing meeting!! We then came back home and had another amazing appointment with Brother Lukachek! He really is so awesome. By the way, he has been reactivated into the church so that was another awesome thing. We then went to the Family Mohr to help encourage their son to keep trying to live the gospel. It really was such a great appointment!! We ended up contacting a couple kids on the way back and it ends up that they´re his friends! They play basketball and so we ended up going to play with them on Wednesday.

Which brings me to how Wednesday went. We started out by doing service all morning at the Taubners again. Moved probably 3 tons of rock...or more Idk it was just heavy we´ll leave it at that hahaha We then went and played some basketball with a guy I contacted on the Bahn named LRG Bahahahaha we ended up going out to Weiterstadt and we played on an outside court in the middle of "the hood" hahaha There were people smoking, blasting music, and drinking, while playing Basketball of course. Best place to start converting people hahahaha! So Elder Bruneel and I ended up dominating everybody and so we got 3 numbers and ended up giving out a Book of Mormon to a guy who kept saying that he has been looking for something like that in his life. He also wants us to talk to his friends....cha´ching! After that we went and played with the kids we had contacted the night before. Ends up we played with guys that were older and were in the Division 1 basketball for Germany. So basically you have me, and a bunch of college basketball players playing some seriously intense Basketball. IT WAS A BLAST!!! I didn´t do half bad either. I held my own so I was pretty pumped about that. We then got a couple more numbers and they´re going to come play at the church on Tuesdays! Woot! Church tours like a boss! We then had soccer that night and by this time my out of shape body was really starting to take a hit hahaha. Either way I still gave it my all and we had a blast. Thursady I went on a split with Elder Emery and we had all of our appoinments fall out but we ended up contacting a bunch of people and so that was great!! Bahahahaha I can´t go into detail but let´s just say we really had a great time hanging out preaching the gospel! Friday ended up being just insane! We met with a pair of Muslim guys who we had talked to a couple days before and one was listening and the other was trying to convert us...pretty hilarious to be honest.

We kept showing him scriptures that proved what he was saying was wrong but he kept going at us. I then just said to him that we were there to invite people to take a chance on what we were talking about and that no matter what it would come down to them deciding to take the chance or not. It really is so difficult not trying to just sit there and convince people that things are true but that is definitely something that they have to want and find out for themselves. So after that we went to the Nowaks and had some great food. They´re really hilarious and it was a really successful appointment. We then went to the Sommer family and had another dinner. Ends up after the appointment we were sprinting for our bus...you can only imagine the kind of work that does on your stomach. Let´s just say I have become plenty practiced at holding stuff down XD The Sommers son Lars then tried to give out a Book of Mormon with us. He was absolutely rejected but he loved it!! Wish I had done those things when I was younger, totally would have been a blast! Oh shucks, I forgot to say. So wednesday night I was on the bus and I had a Book of Mormon in my hand. It was late and we had to be home but I thought to myself we really need to hand this out and I recieved a good feeling about it so I told Elder Bruneel that was what we were doing. So we got off the bus and I got straight up rejected by an Indian guy. That made things a little disheartening but I don´t take no for an answer so I edned up walking towards this girl who was the pretty much the last person in the square. Right as I was thinking that I needed to contact her Elder Bruneel called out from behind me and said that I should. Spirit? I think yes. So I contacted her asked her how her night was going and ended up walking with her to the bank. We talked for about 20 minutes about the Gospel and she was so excited to read in the Book of Mormon. SICK! I then was just giddy by this point because my spiritual impression had been spot on. So as I´m walking we pass by this group of three middle aged people and I just can´t hold it in so I´m like Guten Abend! And we keep walking and then behind us you hear "Guten Abend wie gehts euch?!" So I turned around and this lady comes up and asks if we have bibles in our hands. She then asks if we are Jehova´s witnesses and we say no. She laughs and is like We can talk then. Auf Deutsch of course haha. And we end up talking with her and she goes crazy over the Book of Mormon and she gives us her number and types in Sister Bregeet in our phone. (She really likes the title sister hahaha) And while she was giving that to Elder Bruneel I ended up contacting the guy with her and gave him a Book of Mormon as well and he was really serious about it and said that he really wanted to read. So yup, I just lost it and was skipping around the apartment when we got home hahaha. We then have met with a couple other investigators and more families. We ended up giving out a total of 18 Books of Mormon this week. Edler Bruneel was also told that he would never be saved and Elder Nilson was called an Anti-Christ. bahahahaha all in all though, this week has just been a blast and I seriously can´t get enough of it!! The lord really has his hand in this work. I know for a fact that without him we couldn´t have done we we did this week. I hope that you all enjoy this long letter hahaha it definitely has been my favorite week of this experience. I wish I could say all of the other things that happened. I love you all so much! This gospel is true!!! You´re all just great!!! 

Tshcuss!!
Elder Lee

The City of Love

What a great title eh? Hahaha it´s written on one of our maps in our apartment so it´ll do. Well this week has been another awesome week! We met with some seriously awesome individuals and I really am so pumped to see where things go. One of them is named Mahmet and the other is named Constantine. We´re going to be trying to get both of them a baptismal date this week since they both are such solid investigators. We have been trying really hard to get at least two Books of Mormon a day. It´s been pretty crazy how well things have been going for us. The lord has definitely prepared Darmstadt and we are working  hard to find those that are ready for this gospel!! I have definitely seen the miracles just piling one onto another!! I really am so grateful that I have this opportunity to serve. Along with all the miracles I really have gained such a strong testimony of the Book of Mormon. It really can be such a powerful tool in our lives as well as others lives. I really have been so blown away at what it has done for me as well as others.

We also have continued to work with a lot of Weniger Aktives and such and it´s been going really well. I also got to have another interview with President Schwarz. He really is such an inspired man. The things that go on in those interveiws just show me that he truly is a man called of god and really is an instrument in his hands. I wish I could tell you everything that was said but one of the things he told me was the exact same thought that I had in my head when I truly knew that this gospel was real. He used the exact same words. Same topic. Same everything. He also stated things that were in my Patriarchial blessing and I just was completely astounded. Ever get those moments when you feel like the Lord is truly speaking directly to you? Well count me in on that one because that was probably one of the most astounding experiences that I have had. If I could only share with all of you the feelings that I have felt, things I´ve seen, and everything else that I have experienced. The Lord truly works in small and simple ways yet the feats that come from it are truly miraculous. Of course, we always have to nurture that seed, that knowledge. We have been talking with an inactive about how he has a hard time believing in things that he couldn´t see and we threw out the example of Laman and Lemuel. How they saw miracle after miracle after miracle after miracle and yet they still fell away. I think so often there is a mistinterpretation of simple scripture and simple gospel truths. Whether we want to admit it or not we all are children of God. I can´t lie to myself and pretend that I have no value. Just like I wouldn´t be able to say that any other person in this world has no value. I know without a doubt that we have a father in heaven who loves each and every single one of us. He has given us a direction and we can choose to follow or we can choose not to.

I think that actually was probably one of the greatest sacrifices that he would have to make. To allow us to use our agency to decide whether or not we wanted to come back to him. Heck, I may not be a parent but I sure love my guitar a lot and if my guitar picked up and waltzed off I´d be pretty bumbed about it....just sayin. Man, I could really go on forever about this topic but seeing as my time is just about gone I want you all to know that I love you so much! The opportunity to serve has really helped me to back off from a lot of selfish things that I used to do and it has helped me gain a new perspective on what is truly worthwhile. If only I could just give you every experience I know that it could convince anybody and everybody. But alas, I can´t. I do invite each and every one of you to try and have yor own though. Because I know that each and every one of us can and will have those experiences if we really look for them. Just like Nephi I rejoice in simplicity and I want to bear simple testimony that God lives. He loves each and every one of us. He has a plan and we can choose to follow that plan. Joseph Smith truly was visited in that grove of trees. He truly saw god the father and  his son Jesus Christ. I have a testimony that Thomas S. Monson is a prophet of God in these days. He recieves guidance and direction for this church. I know that this church is true. I love you all!

Tschuss!!

Elder Lee
"By the fruits of their labors ye shall know them." 

The food was Croation food from Brother Lukachek. He is so legit!! You then have an awesome dog statue that I saw and then a sunset pic that I can´t help but take.

Darmstadt, The Land of Dreams!

Hello Everyone,

I think I am going to have to come up with some more creative titles because Another week in Darmstadt doesn´t do my time here justice. Course, the title I gave wasn´t what I had expected but hey, it´s something new haha. We´re in our good ol´ internet cafe right now. We just finished making some cinammon rolls and so we´re trying to get some letters done before we have to go back and put the dough in the oven. I´ve never had much of a problem with having to abstain from food but I feel like if I keep up the amount I´m eating i´m going to be like 250 pounds when I get back...that is some serious doomsday material right there how am I ever going to beat Jon in a triathlon if I can´t even beat my cravings for some tasty essen! Either way, this week was pretty interesting. Found out on Thursday that Carnival had started. Guess that´s like Halloween for Germany except they like to party a little bit more than in America hahaha. We have to be in at 8 until Wednesday because everyone gets drunk and then woman run around cutting peoples ties and kissing them. We try and joke about ugly tie week but honestly I´m scared to death. I love my ties!! Elder Bruneel tries to mess with me and tells me to watch out for people running around with scissors. Luckily for us, it isn´t too  big here in Darmstadt. Other than that things have been going pretty well. We have had a lot of fall out appointments this week and so that was pretty difficult but we were able to give out a bunch of Books of Mormon so that made up a lot for it. I ended up getting pretty sick Saturday and yesterday and so I had to stay in bed a lot longer than I would have liked. It just feels like such a waste of time to just be lying there. Blech, I don´t like it at all. We also had a big presentation this Sunday in church and it began terribly. People were late and the setup ended up not working and I was just sitting there praying for some kind of recovery. Our ward GML came in clutch and brought things back for us but it still wasn´t everything that I had hoped for. Sacrament Meeting made up for it though. We had one of the Seventy with us and he basically called the ward to repentance. LIKE A BOSS!! Hahahaha really he just bore testimony of how when memebers are willing to open up their homes to us we´d be able to find more investigators to fill those homes. IT seems they both had an effect because we have 11 Member appointments this week on top of our others so we´re extremely pumped about it. It doesn´t give us much time to really do much anything but we still find while we are on the busses and trains so we´re making things work. We´re going to be meeting with AJ today so I am super pumped about that. We also got a hold of Duane and he seems a lot more docile and he really wants us to come and talk more about the Book of Mormon so cross your fingers!! I have to take off pretty quick but I just want to say that I love you all! You´re all so great and I make sure to pray for you always! I wish that I could reply to more letters but this will have to suffice for now, hopefully I will be able to get back on a little later for a bit. I know that this Gospel is true, I know that God lives, that he watches over us and that his son Jesus Christ has our backs through and through. I have fallen in love with this gospel in ways that I never have thought I would have. As I really have developed my relationship with Christ and continue to learn more about him my testimony grows stronger and stronger jeden tag. I know that as we learn more about him and truly everything he has done for us the truth of it will be confirmed to us. I have a burning desire in my heart to learn all that I can and I just can´t soak in enough information. There is no doubt in my mind of the things that Joseph saw. I know that as we look to have Charity we will recieve that gift. "Charity casteth out all fear" Remember that, we have nothing to fear as long as we´re doing the things that we should be doing. Because the lord is on our side and when we deal away with our excuses and work to be the best we can be he makes us even better. I have seen this with my own eyes. Thanks everyone for everthing! Love you all!!

Elder Lee