Dad,
I'm so jealous of those photos of the beach and Eli in short sleeves and shorts!!! Oh man! I had dreams of being home last night so much I couldn't sleep. I was just too excited. I came into the kitchen and you told me I was late, that it was 10:41pm and then we laughed. And then I argued playfully with Andre and Lyndel and it felt good. Ha! It's funny the things you end up missing.
We did have a lot of success with people showing up to conference. XXXXXXX came to the priesthood session early sunday morning and loved it. Sister Jensen and I were able to catch the tail end of it and so we knew that President Monson really talked of missions and missionary work. As XXXXXXX came out of the meeting he had the biggest grin on his face and asked me how long I had been out on my mission. He thought I had to serve for 24 months but I explained for only 18. He seemed just so happy. He really loved it. Then during the Sunday morning session Utah time ( our Sunday Afternoon) we had a part-member family, Herr XXXXXX ( a previous imvestigator who sat next to me with a bloody nose the whole time), and then XXXX and his wife. So we met XXXX this past Friday. We went to visit Herr XXXXX and Frau XXXXXX, the couple we found who have a 8 month old baby and were super excited to hear our message. Well they were home on Friday and decided not to let us in so we doored the rest of their complex. The second to last building a Chinese guy spoke with me over the intercom but had a hard time understanding German so he let us in and we climbed the stairs and met XXXX. We stood and talked with him in ther stairwell for 45 minutes. He was soooo interested in our message. I happened to have the picture book on me so I whipped that out and showed the picture of the first vision and we had this great discussion about God answering our prayers and communicating with us. At the beginning of our conversation he said that he already had a Book of Mormon that he got from Elders in Hamburg and that he may come to church on Sunday. By the end he said he would come. Well Sunday rolls around and he comes with his wife! They had lots of questions but I think they liked it. They wouldn't make another appointment out with us but hopefully soome prayers will help them contact us again. It was way cool.
We haven't contacted XXXXXXX so she was not there at conference. I'm working on leaving us both struggling for breath each day. Thanks for the advice Dad. It was much needed.
I've been thinking lots this past week. Mum only told me that Kerri Wall had a stroke and from what it sounds she has limited mobility. I was thinking that if Ira needs help with taking care of Kerri or the house or running his younger boys ( I'm not sure if they can even drive already or not) around that I would be willing to offer my time this summer. Not as a job but just to help out because I feel that they could really use it. If you'd like to offer that to them if you think it's a good idea I'd appreciate it.
I think the best thing you learn on a mission is your own conversion. An Elder mentioned at our last zone conference that he told his friends that he would be different coming home but he didn't really understand what that meant. He said that change is conversion. I always knew that serving a mission was a good decision but I never realized that it would be the best decision of my entire life. If anyone is ever sitting on the fence about it they should just go. There are so many things that you learn about yourself and the plan Heavenly Father has but most importantly you come to know your savior. I wouldn't give up this time for anything.
Thanks for booking my tickets to California. I REALLY appreciate it dad. Sorry you're having to deal with all the annoying errands for me like trying to find a jobs and such. I love you Dad! Have a spectacular week at the beach and get a beautiful tan for me! I'm so white now you can see the veins all over my body ( Arms, Face, Legs = gross.)
Love you!
-Ariel Nell
No comments:
Post a Comment