April 26, 2010

Dear family friends angerhörige und freunde!!!!!!,
yes the package came, the easter package came and we had a good time eating the jelly beans. Elder Gruse has never had jelly beans before. but he really likes them. I also got a couple appointments with american families set up in the past couple of weeks so that elder gruse could get to learn a little about american awesomeness. WE had tacos and sloppy joes, and most importantly root beer. He had no idea what root beer was but now he does and he loves it. He can not get enough of the stuff. You should have seen how excited he was when i introduced root beer floats to him. Its funny stuff. They dont have root beer here in germany. you have to order it from the american base. The only kind of beer that they have here is the not good kind. but we cry repentance and help the people here try and forget that very important part of their culture. We also had such good weather yesterday that our ward mission leader, as part of correlation meeting, grilled for us. They feed us everyweek anyway but this week was special. they both served their missions in greece and so they made greek salad and then br. Wolf Grilled up some amazing bratwurst and sausage and franconian steaks we ate almost a pound of meat each yesterday. Yes i had to repent becasue in the the word of wisdom it says to eat meat sparingly. im sorry it was just so good though.
As for me i dont really need anything. I am doing good. I had the worst diahrrea the other day. dont even ask me why. I thought however that i was going to die. I am telling you my body is angry at me. But we have worked so hard. I have had to push elder Gruse more and more each day. He still doesnt like contacting people that much. Lead by example is how i roll. I talk to everybody and then push him to talk to them as well. I think it is really cool. Not to be prideful or anything, but I am at a point in my mission where i know how to follow the spirit and teach with the spirit so well that i can make out an appointment or get the information from anyone that will take two seconds to hear a question. It is so cool to listen to what they say, or the hear the problems that they have that relate to something which the gospel provides an answer to when they responsd to our questions. After you listen to them you can listen to your heart and what the spirit tells you to say and then every time that you bear pure heartfelt testimony they feel it and want to make the step towards learning more about the church. I feel like i have a superpower because the spirit tells me to say what will help the person or what will influence the person to help feel the truthfullness of the Gospel. It is really cool. With that said, we have so many appointments this next week. We do not have a free minute. except for saturday at 12:05 where we will try to shove something in quick to eat. Elder Gruse and I work so well together. We are seeing the most success that i have ever seen my whole mission. I love working with Elder Gruse. We laugh pretty hard too. At nights we just write in our journals and talk about the funny things that we experience and all the reasons we have to be exceedingly happy. To make a long story short we have worked it this week so hard and we have a lot of appointments coming up this week.
The only thing that i might need from you mom is that you would answer me a question. Well there is actually two things. So first i have been out of contacts for about a month now. Oops. i should have said something. I went and got my eyes checked for free, and my perscription is new. i was wondering if i should go and buy the contacts there, it will be about 30 euros a package so about 60 euros total. or should i send the new perscription to you and you order me a pair. i do not have the perscription with me today at the email shop. so sorry. I can live with glasses for another week. I actually look pretty stylin with glasses. I look super smart. I think that is why so many people want to learn about the gospel. Just a joke.
the second question is when is mothers daY? that is not a joke. i forgot the day in america. they have a different mothers day here in europe. it is on the second of may, and so i dont know how that is all going to work out. I will talk to president condie as well. We are meeting with him on thursday with an area seventy. We got specially invited to a meeting with the stake presidency the assistents to the president and the zone leaders. we have to talk and present about what we are doing here in bamberg to make the work go so well. They invited us because we are really cranking it out lately with the work. We have hit the powerband!!!!! ya i dont know if that works but we have reached a point of critical effectiveness. We have so much momentum and we need to share the love. Well i gotta go write the president and tell him about what we are throwin down and how the work is going here. Mom I love you. thank you for all that you do. you are absolutely wonderful!!!! Have a great day.

because it is cheaper to print them that small. I will print bigger ones next time though. (: love you!!!1

April 19, 2010

Hello people on the other side of the world !!!!!!!!!! I love you!!!!! Wow that totally tripps me out that i am on the other side of the world. I give up trying to spell and type proper englisch. I was reading through my journal the other night from this past transfer and i realized that because i have spoken hardly any englisch in the past couple of weeks my spelling has been severely affected. My children are going to think that their father was partially handicapped because of some kind of writing disability. But its cool my german is really good. That means i can better communicate with the people that are ready. Its really cool to be able to communicate fluently with the people here and be able to express feeling emotion to be able to convey the spirit so that people can realize that that which you are saying is true. It is so wonderful. Not gonna lie at the beginning of my mission i had the greatest fear that i would not be able to listen or understant these peoples cries of help or needs and then be able to help them through it. it is really good that i can help them. i love the feeling of satisfaction that i get from being able to help people. Nothing is better.
As for a story of prayer mom, for your lesson. A couple of weeks ago at the beginning as Elder Gruse became my companion i spent so much time in prayer. I wanted everything to flow perfectly. I wanted the beginning of his mission to be perfect. I wanted so much for him. I prayed for the ability to know how to be able to train him. To know how i could give him suggestions and how i could teach him so that he could become the missionary, the tool that the Lord wants him to be. I spent a lot of time on my knees. One week it was really tough. I felt like i was doing all the contacting, and everyone was shoving that what i was lovingly offering, harshly back in my face. It was tough. I took a little time that night to talk a little longer with the Lord. Instead of asking why everything was going so horribly, although that was my first thought of what to ask, i asked what i needed to change in order to see the success that i wanted to see. I then waited after my prayer in silence. in the dark of our apartment, in the silence, pondering. A thought then came into my mind. not in the voice of my conscious that i am used to hearing, rather in a much more familiar voice. It said, "Just Wait". I took the advice and concentrated on the divine advice that i had recieved. I exercised patience in the best way that i could. It is now a couple of weeks later and we have set a baptismal date with svetlana. Frederick snipes also wants to be baptised. We have a teaching pool of 14 investigators. I have never taught so many people at one time on my entire mission. The success came after i excercised patience with my companion, with myself, with these children of God here. and the principle of prayer helped me to find that out. we need to pray. the purpose of prayer is not to change the will of the Lord, but to make the will of the Lord and your will one, and when we recieve an answer, because we will (Dand C 4:7 , Matt. 7:7 and over a hundred times more in the scriptures) we need to act upon that answer that we recieve. That is the real intent that moroni is talking about in Moroni 10:3-5. I have had other experiences with prayer. ones that are really personal those i choose not to share at this time, however you are allowed to share this one.
As for my health situation. We are blessed in bamberg with americans. And in our ward we happen to have a doctor. i asked him casually about my throat lump (which i have named Claus) I asked him about it casually after priesthood class in the hallway between the young womens class and relief society. He checked it out right then and there and said that it was only a clogged salivary gland or a lymph node. He said i should be ok. Its getting smaller now as well and so i told him that and he told me that that is a good sign. he will check it again next week as well. We also have a dentist in the ward. He is also american. He said that he will fix my retainer for me. he told me as well that super glue was not a good idea. It doesnt have the strongest bond to teeth and sometimes it can be toxic. Man i was totally ready to go to the closest hardware store. :) Just kidding, love you mom. the rash on my throat is also getting better. I meditate for five minutes in the morning after doing exercise and that helps get the stress away.
Elder gruse is doing good. We are working hard together. There have been a couple of moments where it has been hard for him to keep going. He gets frustrated sometimes that the people here are so anti-christ. We were walking one time and i could tell that it was a hard day for him and so i told him that we would take five minutes and just sit down and talk about what was troubling him. I listened to his problems as we sat on the bridge over the water by the old council building (beautiful area) and then i talked with him about it. It was a really good experience for the both of us. He was frustrated with the people. and why it was so hard sometimes to get there attention or why they wouldnt even talk with us. But he told me that after our little talk he felt better. He told me that i am a person that really cares about the people but not only the people but him as well. He said that is was a good help that i just took some time to talk and to help him through his problems. I love elder Gruse. He is gonna be such a good missionary. my baby boy. I am so grateful that we have such a strong relationship. He says that no matter what we have to stay in contact after our missions and that i need to come to berlin to live with him. and that he is going to come and visit me in america too. Elder Gruse is awesome.
Well that is pretty much it for me. this week was great. We had to help with a young single adults activity here in bamberg. They gave us invitations the night before, adn we went and contacted people for about an hour. We gave out about 100 invites, i didnt have too much hope that too many people would come but to young girls that we contacted came to the young single adult activity. We got their numbers and hopefully we will have two new young women in our ward soon. We are working so hard and i love it. Well i gotta go and write president condie and go have an awesome p-day. LOVE YOU ALL have a wonderfull week. CIAO!!!!!

April 12, 2010

HELLO MY PEOPLE!!!!!!
Well howdoyado?! This week has been so wonderful for me. We found two seconds of time where we could throw the cake mix that you sent me together and we baked the cake it was absolutely delicious. Pictures of the event of awesomeness are attached. So this week we have been really blessed. I have been working my but off and my body is shutting down for it. But oh well. I will talk to sister condie. I repeat i will talk to sister condie because i have developed some sort of rash on my throat. No not from the razor or shaving. i think it is a stress rash. Plus a thing on the back of my permanent retainer fell off. I dont know what they are called in english. a glue dot thing. ya so i will have to get that replaced or just buy some super glue or something. just kidding mom that was a joke. As well there is a lump in my throat. Like a piece of gristle or a rock that is embedded under the skin. it kinda hurts but i will talk to sister condie and see if i can get a check with the doctor. :) The great thing about life is just that i am so happy because i get to do the work of the Lord. It is such a wonderful and amazing blessing to see how the gospel touches the lives of the people around me and how just smiling and waving at the poeple brightens their days. Really one of the coolest things that i have found is a smile. Immediately can it be a point of happiness and joy in the dreary lives of the people whos hands hang down, and that is why i am here is to help those in need of help to comfort those in need of comfort and to brighten the days of those in gloom. I love it!!!!!
Wow luke nielson got baptised!!!!!! That is so cool. But he was so young and so small. There is no way that he is already eight. Did they lower the age of accountability or am i just getting old? Ha that was my horrible attempt at a joke. Well that is awesome. we also had a baptism here in our ward. It was a girl whos name is saria dettmer. I got to be a witness at the baptism to make sure that it was properly performed. That was reely cool. As soon as she was baptised i felt the spirit come in the room like a wave. Everyone else said that they felt it as well. really cool to see a baptism. What more can i say. The church is true.
To answer your question yes i did see grandmas dog. it was super small at that time though. Which car of grandmas do you have the lexus? lucky. well i have not yet recieved the package. but thank you in advance. Mom you know you dont have to send me packages. they are expensive. a letter would suffice. you could pack just as much love in a letter as you can in a package. I love you mom. you are the best. by the way you should look up the recipe for Rouladen. it is probably the best german food i have ever had. I will show you how to cook it one day. i am pretty much the chef lately. Not to be proud or anything but i am just reporting about the talents that i am developing. I love cooking and washing dishes by hand. its relaxing.
I dont feel like im twenty. I feel like iam in a time warp. I am still young. Little kids play and big kids just play a lot more. last night elder gruse and i were done with our evening planning and we were just talking and i cant even remember what we were talking about, oh yeah it was just that one time i was whistling the song put your shoulder to the wheel and i accidently drooled a little bit. so we talked about that and i just started busting up laughing. I have not laughed so hard in a long time. i was crying and yet again i lost control of the saliva in my mouth and i drooled a little bit on the table. Which made me laugh harder. Thus more saliva. It was a vicious cycle. But everythign is going awesome by me. This week we had zone konferenz and we worked our buns off. I love it. We had a lot of fallen out appointments this week. We made out like 8 or so appoiintments with people that could have become new investigators however all of these appointment didnt go through. Its ok. WE still worked way hard and we didnt let it get to us. rejection is something that i have gotten used to. I dont think i will ever experience so much rejection in my entire life as i have on my mission. Cool. Well i am going to go mail president condie. I am a pretty slow typer becuase i have to translate everything to englisch. so bear with me for the next portiion of my life till i can differentiate languages. LOVE YOU ALL WITH EVERY FIBRE OF MY BEING!!!! CIAO!!!!!!!

April 6, 2010

You Went out to chinese for me in my honor!!!!! wow i feel so touched :) Ha ha just joking around. Family thank you so so much for the awesome b-day. I loved the package and although we have not as of yet had the chance to enjoy the cake you sent we got to enjoy the baloons and the socks. The picture i am the most proud of. I showed it as soon as possible to my Ward mission leader. that was cool. He took us around for p-day in the Franconian swiss. Little sets of mountains and cute looking cottages in the hills and valleys around bamberg to look at what is called Oster Brunnen (easter wells) The people here decorate the water wells and fountains with eggs and wreathes and they make them look all eastery. It was super beautiful. We have a wierd p day today. WE should have had it yesterday but it is easter monday and all the staunch catholics have a monopoly here in germany. So all the shops were closed, everything shut down. Man anything or any kind of holiday that has anything to do with religion here in this neck of the woods, calls for a total shut down of society. ha even mcdonalds which is open 26 hours a day closes on sundays and holidays. Well. Svetlana still wants to be baptised. I am super stoked. We are working on helping her get married with her husband. It is a tough situation because they have two kids together and that would be extremely hard for her to simply go on her own and so separation is not an option but earlier in their relationship they had some hard times. The man was not so nice to her. but she says that our influence and our being there has helped them. They are coming closer together because of the gospel. The lord is blessing their lives and they realize that so hopefully they will work to coming together sooner, and let their lives and their soon to be marriage fully blessed by the lord. I Love Love. The love of God has been poured out upon us this week. From svetlana to the three other new investigators that we found this week. There are so many prepared people who the lord wants us to meet. We have worked so hard. I have had to push Elder Gruse to talk to more and more people. He still thinks its weird but i told him that if he wants to see a baptism or if he wants to feel the joy of bringing someone the same joy that he has found through the gospel then he must open his mouth. It is awesome to train. oh ya this week should have been the real transfers but since elder gruse and i have only been together for only a couple of weeks president left us alone and we get to work the glorious work here in bamberg! It is getting to be very pretty. The sun and good weather is coming. We got rained on the other day. April does what it wants. It was a glorious sunny day, so we didnt bring jackets with us and then in five minutes it turned into the most intense thunder and lightning storm that i have ever seen. WE got soaked. and that is the pic that i sent you. We have been working our brains out. I feel that we have finally recieved so much momentum and that we cannnot stop. I have never felt so successful my entire mission. WE are being so blessed. So everyday i commit myself to work harder than the last day. Elder Gruse comes home so tired everynight. It is so awesome! I started to come down with a cold on friday but we have been pushing through it. I am not gonna lie. i feel old. my body feels like it could just shut down like the stores here in germany on religious holidays. I have been pushing myself so hard to show the Lord that we are deserving of all the success he has been giving us. I gotta figure somthing out to fight against my body, against this natural man that is an enemy to God. I wish sleep was not necessary, that tiredness did not affect my human muscles and that my sore sore throat from talking to people and this cold, would not be sore anymore. But the jaws of hell have not yet opened up for me and Christ has descended below all of what i am going through. My troubles have been swallowed up in the Joy of Christ and i am so happy for all of the success we have been seeing.
well for my bday i bought myself a little present. i used grandmas card and then like 19 euros from my card and i bought this watch. its pretty snazzy. it charges itself from the movement of the watch. So its pretty tech. normally it is 180 euros but i got it on sale for 64 euros. Im awesome. So ya instead of buying just a batterie for my other watch i bought a new watch. I know i am dumb. but it looks cool. and its awesome. O and just to let you know mom. that hair gel that i left with, the pomade, i just ran out the other day. So ha, it almost lasted me a year. you thought it woudl only last me a couple of months. So i bought some new stuff as well.
Conference was awesome. I took so many notes and i have goals and plans to implement what the prophets and apostles taught so that i can improve myself. So that i can come closer to Christ.
WEll i love you all from the bottom of my heart. You mean eternity to me. I must however report on this weeks dealings and awesomeness to the man with the plan here. President Condie awaits. Love you all so much. Bis Später!!!!!!! tschüßie!!!!!!