Woche 43

Frohe Weihnachten!!! ES IST ENDLICH OFFIZIELL WEIHNACHTEN

This week was amazing!! Miracles are pouring down from heaven! (this one turned out super long!) 

We had an awesome split with the Herne Elders this week. I was able to bring Elder Barker here and we Tore it up here in Essen. Had a dinner appointment and got stuffed, and shared a bomb spiritual thought. It went really well and it was a cool family. We found some cool potentials and had a good time whilst doing it. 

On Sunday we were able to meet with a man named Franz who has been investigating the church for about 10 years. He and his wife are from Hungary and it's been a legal nightmare to get them married here, but they finally did it. His wife is already baptized actually and so now it's his turn. We had a really really good appointment with them at a member's house. He opened up and expressed concerns that nobody had known about, and we were able to help him resolve some and get him on the path to resolving others. The spirit was very strong, and he has a powerful testimony of the Restoration and the Book of Mormon. He will get baptized at some point, just not sure when! We are excited to continue working with him. 

We also met with a man named Johnny on Tuesday and it was one of the most powerful appointments of my mission. We simply found his number in the phone and gave him a call and set an appointment. He showed up and we had a member there ready to teach with us. Johnny opened up to us and told us he desperately wants to quit smoking and drinking and wants to "become spiritually strong". We taught him the message of the Restoration of Christ's Church and committed him to be baptized! He said at one point, "man I just want this feeling to stay with me forever. This is how I want to feel". It was so cool! 

We also then met with him on Wednesday and had another great appointment. He is super prepared! He's a miracle!

Björn has been sick the last few days so no new news with him :) 

Spiritual though time:

One thing that absolutely baffles me is how Satan has managed to twist our perception of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and its accompanying Commandments. He has somehow managed to make us think that they are constrictive chains binding us down or holding us back when in fact they are the answer to life and its worries. The gospel is NOT a burden. But somehow Satan tricks into thinking or feeling that it is. The Gospel is the answer. It is the key. It is the answer to the question, "How can I find happiness and peace in this life?". The answer is through Jesus Christ. The answer is, live according to the Commandments. The answer is, have faith, repent, be baptized, receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and endure to the end. The answer is to serve, love, improve, read in the scriptures, go to church, and pray. The answer is to be more patient, more humble, more loving, more kind, more hopeful, more positive, more like Jesus Christ was and is. The Gospel, the teachings of Christ are not a cage or prison. They are an iron rod in a world FILLED with mists of darkness.

This gospel is a blessing, not a burden. And it is real. Oh so real.

John 7:17 reads:

"If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine. Whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself"

God is there ready to give us the answers we seek, the assurance we crave, the support we desperately need. He will confirm our faith if we are willing to step out of our natural man and follow His son. As we act, God confirms to us that this is correct. We enjoy the blessings of the gospel more fully. We feel peace. We feel happiness. We feel Joy, love and charity. We "begin to feel these swelling motions" (Alma 32:28).

I imagine life as such:

We are Peter standing on the ship. We see Christ standing amid stormy waters beckoning us to Him. It takes faith to reach him. But with every tentative step forward we take, we find that the water supports us. That we can walk. That though it seems impossible sometimes to be patient, To love, To be kind, To live the kind of Life that He did, it is somehow possible. We stretch our foot forward and test the water. We test the gospel, we keep a commandment, though we may not understand it yet fully. Toe first, then slowly the rest of our foot. And what we find is that though we may not even have been expecting it, it works. The blessings come. The peace increases. The stormy sea supports us. God fulfills his promises. 

All of life is simply exercising faith enough to take a step forward closer to Christ. While some may strut confidently forward, I would say it is far more common, though no less powerful, to take tentative steps forward. This is how I feel. I feel that as I exercise my faith it grows. There is no growth in the comfort zone, and we will NOT receive a witness before our action. "Ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith" (Ether 12:6). 

All of life is spent amid mists of darkness. Amid dark and stormy seas. And Christ and his gospel are the iron rod. The lighthouse in the darkness. The anchor in the storm. The outstretched hand to lift us back up as our faith trembles and quakes. To love and support and comfort us as we fear and stumble. 

He is the Way and the Light.

"16 ¶ For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved."

The Gospel is not a cell, keeping us back from the joy and happiness the world promises us. It is the guardrail and iron rod, keeping us centered on Jesus Christ, the source of all true peace, joy, and love. The fountain of living waters. The tree of life. The love of God. He is the ray of sunshine piercing the cloudy sky, waiting for us to look up to him. He was sent into this world to be our light and to save us all. He was not here to impose uncomfortable rules and Commandments upon us, or to make us feel guilty or ashamed for being less than perfect. He wasn't sent here to condemn the world, rather to save it and offer hope.

Sometimes I feel truly like I'm "enduring" to the end. That I'm paying the price now for a reward later. That I'm bunkering down and enduring out living the gospel so that I can enjoy Celestial glory.

But that's not what it means to endure to the end. It's not a bunkering enduring. It is an enduring as seen in a race. It is the endurance required to finish. Your endurance in a race is not measured simply by your ability to NOT run backwards. Bunkering down is not how to finish a race. What takes endurance is maintaining a constant course forward. And while we sometimes are exhausted beyond belief, either physically, emotionally, or spiritually, Christ promises us that if we rely on and turn to him, we will ALWAYS have enough strength to take just one more step. And we will enjoy the run. We will feel the love and energy course through us like never before as we learn to keep running. Not bunkering, but striding. All we have to do is finish the race. God doesn't care how long it takes. How slow we get, as long as we are always moving forward.

He wants us. He doesn't want just our obedience. He doesn't want just our diligence. He doesn't just want us to perform the gospel because we are expected to, we wants us to live it. To resonate with it. He wants us to enjoy the blessings He himself enjoys. He wants our hearts.

The reason I've talked so much about this is because this is the answer. This is the Iron rod. This is the beacon. It's giving my heart to the Lord. It's giving it my all, whatever that may be. It's throwing in my two mites, my 5 loaves and 2 fishes. It's stepping into stormy waters of fear and weakness and trusting him to lift me up. This is how to enjoy the gospel. This is how to go through life with peace in your heart and a spring in your step. This is how to be happy. 

It's through Jesus Christ.

I know that Jesus Christ lives and loves me. I know that though I'm not perfect and I don't know everything, He is and He does. And I know he's real because I see God's hand in my life every day. I've seen Christ's Atonement work wonders for me in my heart. I've just started to feel this mighty change in my heart. I've a lot to learn, we all do, but what I do know I'm sticking with. I know the Book of Mormon is true because I've asked God, and I invite you all to ask the same. I know that Joseph Smith truly was called of God to restore Christ's Church upon the earth. I know that we have the priesthood once again on the earth, and that we can one day live with our families forever. I know that we can live with God again, and become as He is. I know that I am a child of God. I know that he loves and knows me. I know he watches over me every day. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

God loves you! You are awesome! Don't you forget it! Make sure you #LighttheWorld this Christmas season! Serve those around you and share this wonderful Gospel by showing your love and your happiness! 

Bis Nächste Woche! 

Elder Harps 

Pics:

Us and a visiting Lithuanian member! Shout out to Elder Barden! 

Woche 42

Hallo nochmal von Essen!

Happy Thanksgiving!! Enjoy the holiday with your family and friends! There isn't Thanksgiving in Germany so eat twice as much for me :) 

This week was crazy. I feel like a chicken running around in circles. There's so much to do! 

We got to finally throw out a bunch of the furniture from the closed apartment and so we have now a but of room to breathe and organize our apartment. We been deep cleaning hardcore, throwing out years worth of garbage and junk left by former missionaries. It's a beast but we've made a ton of progress already. Alles ist klar :)

In addition to that we've been able to pick up a few new investigators this last week and basically the work continues. Finding, calling, dropping, teaching, it's good to get back in the flow of things as I figure this giant city out. Woo!

Someone way cool this week! So this Member was visiting Essen from Canada and she brought a friend to our ward on Sunday. His name is Björn and he is way cool. He speaks nearly perfect English in addition to his native German, and he's super friendly! What's crazy is that he first got to know the church when he went on a high school exchange student program about 20 years ago. What's absolutely bonkers is that for his exchange program, he went to California, lived in Mission Viejo, and spent a year at Trabuco Hills High School. HE WENT TO MY HIGH SCHOOL. THIS GERMAN MAN WENT TO MY HIGH SCHOOL. Like what the flip?? Coincidence of all coincidences! And by that I mean the Lord is orchestrating this big time holy cow! What a blessing! We are meeting with him this Saturday and it's gonna be awesome. I'm way way excited for him.

We got to split with the Zone Leaders in Dortmund this week and I had a way fun split with Elder Burch. He's only a month older than me on the mission and we taught one of the coolest lessons of my mission on our split. We worked in crazy unison and harmony and the spirit was really powerful. It was a blessing for sure! 

So one scripture that Elder Sabin asked us to read a few weeks ago before the conference we had with him really struck me. 

It's Romans 8:31-32 reads:

"31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?

32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?"

One other scripture that is very often quoted but I feel is also often under appreciated is John 3:16:

"16 ¶ For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

God loves us all so much that he gave up his Only Begotten Son. That is absolutely priceless and unfathomable gift. Christ makes everything possible for us, and without him we are nothing. Christ was perfect. He was God's only perfect son. We all make mistakes and come short of his glory. To give up his ONLY perfect son I can't even imagine. He loves us enough that he didn't just give us Christ, he gave him UP for us. It wasn't sharing Christ, it wasn't loaning Christ, it wasn't partial or incomplete. God gave us his Only Begotten Son. He let us kick, scourge, beat, and spit upon him. He LET Christ take our sins upon him and experience unimaginable pain and suffering. He let us crucify him, because he loves us. He knew it was the only way for us to return to him. Christ was the price of our mortal experience, and ultimately our Eternal life. 

1 Nephi 19:9 

"9 And the world, because of their iniquity, shall judge him to be a thing of naught; wherefore they scourge him, and he suffereth it; and they smite him, and he suffereth it. Yea, they spit upon him, and he suffereth it, because of his loving kindness and his long-suffering towards the children of men."

This scripture is talking about Christ himself, but I like to also think of it applied to the Father, watching it all unfold, and staying his Hand so that we might live. He knew, and Christ knew, that this was the only way. He is the Way and the Light. He is our Salvation. Everything is possible through Him, even eternal life. 

What a Gift. 

He is the Gift Light the world 

So this Christmas season, let's appreciate this gift a little more. As we hustle and bustle and try to keep it all in order, let's remember Him. The Church has gone through great lengths to create this year's Christmas initiative, "Light the World". Show Christ your love and participate in these little acts of service and love every day leading up to Christmas.

I love you all! I love my Savior! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and now Christmas! FROHE WEIHNACHTEN!!!

Bis dann! 

Elder Harps 

Pics

Funny text from an investigator

Woche 41

Ayo aus ESSEN!!

I was finally transferred!! After 8 months in Langen it was finally time for me to go, and my new Area is the beautiful city of Essen. It's name literally translates to "food"! Just kidding. It's name actually means "Smokestacks" because Essen is in the middle of Germany's industrial area. It's awesome! It's only slightly smaller than Frankfurt with just under 600,000 people waiting to be baptized. It's awesome. What a huge change from tiny Langen!

I love the Langen ward and area with my whole heart. I didn't really realize just how attached I was until it was actually time to go. I will miss the people there a lot. It feels like a second home.

My new companion is Elder McBride! He's a stud! He's actually in the same group as Elder Adams, so he's just finished being trained! He's a workhorse and I'm way pumped to tackle Essen with him.

This last week has been a whirlwind of trying to find new investigators and also packing and saying goodbye to members and also the whole part where I moved states haha. I've been called as a district leader over a brand new fusion district. Two areas got closed and combined with other areas and I'm now the leader of two districts combined. It's kinda weird and we all still trying to figure everything out, but it's awesome. I'm excited and up for the challenge.

This week's spiritual thought is short. 

We met with a member last night who is semi inactive because of her job and we talked about our prophet, Thomas S. Monson, and his last talk that he gave last April. How the most important thing to him was reading every day in the Book of Mormon. He had only a few minutes of strength and that's what was most important to him. 

Please make sure you are reading every day in the Book of Mormon and other scriptures. It will bless your life and carry you along the iron rod to the tree of life. You will be blessed for it. Don't miss a day this week! Even if it's just a verse a day! 

I love you all! Have a wonderful week! I'll have more to say next week for sure as I figure out this crazy city! 

Pics:

Last district Pday featuring Elder Mortensen and Elder Hyatt

Eating lunch as a district Pday. Persian all you can eat!

Saying goodbye to Elder Adams

Elder McBride and I in our Apartment

Elder McBride and I in the city

Goodbye to the Manics

Goodbye to the Kempeners, our Ward Mission Leader and his family

Goodbye to the Müllers

Travel picture in the train

Last District meeting

Woche 40

Hallo aus Langen! (für wahrscheinlich das letzte Mal!)

This week was solid. It's a Long email week! 

This was probably my last week in Langen! I've now been here 8 months (6transfers) and I'm almost certainly leaving! So next week I'll be emailing from a new area. Transfer calls are Saturday so we'll find out then! 

We got back in contact with Soroush! His phone broke and also he has to move and is trying to find a new apartment, but fortunately we managed to get in contact and set up an appointment, then got Facebook messenger working so we can communicate. He's doing well, and we are glad to be working with him again :)

The Manics are doing wonderful!! They are still reading and praying and loving it! They see the blessings of the gospel and are so grateful for them. They are truly "feasting upon the words of Christ" and they are awesome. Their papers are almost here and then they can get married and baptized! So close! Sadly I probably won't be here for it, but I hope I can maybe come back for it. Maybe.

We had another massive mission conference with Elder Sabin of the Seventy, who is the first counselor in the Europe Area Presidency. It. Was. Amazing. He is such a spiritual giant with a lot of wisdom and insight. The conference was about 5 hours long and it was a spiritual blast the whole time. Kinda felt like Sidney Rigdon after he and Joseph Smith had the vision in Doctrine and Covenants 76. I wanted to plop on the ground and fall asleep. It was so powerful. He taught us powerfully about the plan of salvation and the Atonement of Jesus Christ. He also had a question and answer where he addressed any concerns and questions anyone had and it was wonderful.

As a part of the fact that the conference was for 4 different zones, we overnighted again and had Elder Mortensen and his companion, Elder Hyatt stay with us. Elder Mortensen goes home next week and it's been way fun to hang out with him and catch up for a few days for this conference.

I've been thinking a lot about two stories from the Bible and how they relate.

One is the story of the Widow's Mite.

Mark 12:41-44 reads :

"41 ¶ And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much.

"42 And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing.

"43 And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury:

"44 For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living."

This widow didn't have much to offer. She had only two mites to give to the Lord. But as Christ says, her offering was worth more than that of any other. This is because she gave her all. It was a sacrifice for her to give just these two mites, but she did it anyway.

She very easily could have thought to herself, "I have only two mites. They barely make a single farthing. What is even the point of such a meager offering? What difference is 2 mites really going to make? Why bother? I have nothing to offer." She may have pitied herself and given up. She could have seen herself as the world sees her and seen only the monetary value of the two meager mites. She could have become discouraged and given up.

But she didn't. She saw herself and her offering the same way that the Savior saw it. For its value as a personal sacrifice and consecration. She knew that even though her offering wasn't much, it was all she had. So she gave it to the Lord anyway.

The other story is that of the Syrian Noble, Naaman. 

2 Kings 5:1,9-14:

"1 Now Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honourable, because by him the Lord had given deliverance unto Syria: he was also a mighty man in valour, but he was a leper.

"9 So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariot, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha.

"10 And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean.

"11 But Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said, Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the Lord his God, and strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper.

"12 Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them, and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage.

"13 And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean?

"14 Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God: and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean"

Sometimes, all the Lord asks for is 2 mites. Sometimes he doesn't ask us to work amazing miracles by faith. Sometimes he doesn't want us to do great acts of service. Sometimes, for today, all God asks for is 2 mites. Simply because all he asks for two mites however, doesn't mean we can withhold them. 

We sometimes get discouraged when we desire or long to do great things for the Lord but seem unable to do so. We want to feed the poor, end wars, supply aid to disaster victims, baptize the planet, etc. Circumstances continue to block us from serving as we would wish. But when this happens, we cannot forget to cast in our two mites. We cannot forget to do the simple things every day that we CAN do. We cannot forget to read the word of God every day. To pray every day. To go to church every week. To love and serve those directly around us. We must remember to do what we can. It's not enough to be willing to die for our Savior, we need to live for him. Don't look at these small Commandments as the world looks at them. Don't think to yourself that they are worthless. Maybe for today, all we can offer is our two mites that make a farthing. But let's make sure we offer them. 

There are days when we are beat. When we are absolutely exhausted or cranky or somebody wronged us or we misplaced our keys or it's too hot or too cold or we feel down or we feel happy or we feel accomplished or we feel defeated. It doesn't really matter how our day, or week, or year is going. We can still make sure, every day, that we throw in our 2 mites. We don't need to make excuses. We can't allow ourselves to think that we've done enough. Because the instant we think that we have done enough, we are "[casting] in of [our] abundance". God doesn't care how much we throw in, simply that it's ALL we have. I've quoted it before, but "The Lord doesn't want your time. He doesn't want your service. He doesn't want your energy, your work, your money. He wants you". He doesn't care how much you give, he wants you to experience the joy that comes from truly giving your all. 

Something Elder Sabin answered this week was a question another missionary asked, but is also something that has been on my mind. "How do I know if I've done my best?" to which Elder Sabin said "You can know you've done your best if you have desired to do your best". What "your best" is really measured by isn't how much you give, but how you give it. You succeed if you try. Your desires and heart are what measure your gift to God, just like the Widow. 

Omni 1:26

"26 And now, my beloved brethren, I would that ye should come unto Christ, who is the Holy One of Israel, and partake of his salvation, and the power of his redemption. Yea, come unto him, and offer your whole souls as an offering unto him, and continue in fasting and praying, and endure to the end; and as the Lord liveth ye will be saved."

So let's try to simply throw in our two mites every day. To give all we have to the Lord. He will bless and stand by us. Try to be better today. A little more diligent. A little more like Christ. Give him your two mites and don't look back :)

Once again I love you all! I really hope you know that you are a child of a loving Heavenly Father who watches over and stands by you. Just because we can't see him doesn't mean he isn't listening. He loves and knows you.

Habt eine schöne Woche. Ich habe euch sehr lieb :)

Bis aufs Wiedersehen!

Elder Harps

 

MTC group reunion! Minus Elder Lichtenberg and plus Elder MacAlese 

Woche 39

Hallo Leute! Wie geht's??

This week's email will probably be pretty short. It's a crazy Pday so not a whole of time.

We had Zonenkonferenz this week and we rolled out Facebook! It's way weird! But also super cool! If you didn't see my Facebook message, basically if you wanna talk, do it through email, but if you want to learn about the gospel or Christ's restored church, Facebook is totally tame. Any sort of religious questions I can gladly help with. I'd love to talk with you about the gospel haha

Other than that we split with Darmstadt this week and I actually left Langen! That's the 3rd time out of 12 splits with them in the last 6 transfers haha. Langen pride! But it was really way fun. Great time with Elder McClellan

Then we had a finding activity in Langen and it was a lot of fun! We tried to be bolder and it was really good and helped us find really cool people. We'll see if it goes anywhere!

Other than that not much happened this week. It's been really slow. Soroush hasn't answered his phone in a while, and we are mildly worried about him. Hopefully all is well.

The Manics are doing really well actually. They are reading every day and praying together and LOVING it. They are seeing the blessings of the gospel and recognizing it and it's amazing. He's quit smoking and we can almost get them married and it's awesome. Sadly it probably wont be in time to see them baptized before I get transferred. They are wonderful

I had a really cool thought for this week but not enough time to write it so I'll share it next week!

I love you all! Have a wunderbare Week!

Liebe Grüße,

Elder Harps

Taco night in Langen!

Frankfurt Skyline

Not too good Pic of our district under a bridge

Us riding our bikes through a German Forest in Fall