Woche 55

Schönen guten herrlichen Tag!!

Diese Woche war AUCH verrückt!!

It's been basically nonstop craziness this transfer. Like I don't remember the last day we just had to ourselves in Dortmund to just work!  I know for a fact we won't have one until at least Monday. It's awesome. We get to work at maximum capacity and see God support and strengthen us as we run from one thing to the next!

Elder Burch had to buy glasses this week! It was really funny because he got his eyes dilated and couldn't see for 24 hours and he looked like he was high. We also had interviews with Präsident Boyer this week which is always such a blessing. He is a great man. 

We also split with the other elders in our district! I got to go to Hagen with the amazing Elder Jukes! He's in the same group as me, and we are in the same district in the MTC! It was a blast. Hagen is a cool city, though smaller than Dortmund. It was great split! 

So we have some way WAY cool people we're blessed to work with :)

Shumon and Shekh are two men from Bangladesh who the other Dortmund Elders were teaching before they had to close. So we picked up their teaching and they are preparing to be baptized next Saturday on the 3 of March! They are super excited for their baptism, and they just GET IT. They are loving the Book of Mormon and are reading a ton. They read every day, they have read the first two books of Nephi already and have received an answer that the Book is true and that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God. They are just growing so much its beautiful to see! They have given up smoking and while it's still hard for them they are overcoming. They are just awesome. We are way excited for next Saturday :)

The other ones are a wonderful less active family we have been meeting with. They are so sweet! The husband has been trying really hard to prepare himself to receive the priesthood and he's been reading and praying and growing and he's awesome! He's so humble and so ready to do anything to come closer to his Savior. Even wake up at 5 to ride a night bus to church! (which fortunately didn't end up being necessary, but he was totally willing!). His wife has been inactive for about 20 years and she doesn't believe in God really anymore. But last Thursday we met and read all together of it the Book of Mormon. We picked a chapter (Alma 7 ) and it was basically directly speaking to them the entire time. They had bad some concerns and worries and stresses and it just directly addressed ALL of them. The spirit was super strong, and at the end, she said that she's seen too many crazy coincidences and that maybe it all really IS true. We asked to go think about it and she let us give her a Priesthood blessing, after which she was crying.

So their whole family came to church on Sunday (and LOVED IT. "It felt like coming home"), and we've been messaging them constantly through the week. They are on fire, and are soaking up all the spirit they can. She prayed for the first time in 20 years, then prayed again. They said "We are talking, and we really want to keep up this momentum we've got. Can you help us with that?". They are so sweet and we love working with them! God really has a plan for everyone and even when we as humans would have long ago given up, God is infinitely patient and waits for us to return and come unto him.

We are all Prodigals who must come to ourselves and start the long journey back to our Father. And he waits and watches faithfully and eagerly for that day when he can see us still a ways off, and run to us and fall upon us, and kiss us. Put a ring on our hand and his robe over our shoulders and tell us we have made it home.

God is so good. He will use us to work miracles if we let him. He knows each of us and eagerly awaits our return 

Ich habe euch alle lieb! Ihr seid top! Vergesst das nicht!

Bis nächste Woche! Tschüß! 

Elder Harps

Pics:

A cool old mining rig thing

Elder Jukes and I

Funny Denglish ad (Deutsch + English. Ei = Egg, Ostern = Easter)

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Woche 54

Mahlzeit Leute!

This week was the busiest of my life! It was verrückt!! 

Last Friday we did a mini split with the other Dortmund Elders on their last day because I needed to register with the city of Dortmund (something they do in Germany when you move) and Elder Ashworth needed to pick up his Residency Permit. We got to the office at 6:30 and left at 11:30 and I was SO BORED. Five hours. But we survived. I lived.

We helped them pack up and get ready to go because one of the Elders has major medical issues and has to go home. Then on Saturday we had a bunch of appointments and it was way busy because we also had to cram in weekly planning. 

On Monday we did a Power Split with the Münster Elders and it was a blast! We went to Münster for it, which is a big city with more bikes than I've ever seen. The stat is that there at 3-4 Bikes per PERSON in the city. It's ridiculous and I've no idea why there are so many. But we had a great split, I got to be with Elder Cameron and Elder Burch went with Elder McClellan! It was good to see him again. It was a blast and we worked our tails off. 

On Wednesday we drove to Frankfurt and had Mission Leadership Council (MLC). It was way fun and very uplifting. I got to see a bunch of old friends, including Elder Clarke and Elder Larson! It was awesome. Learned a ton.

Don't got a whole lot for a spiritual thought this week, but just know this. God loves you! Wherever you are, whatever you are doing, you can succeed. Whether you are a student, a parent, a missionary, whether you are happy, sad, struggling, or thriving, know this: your surroundings don't make you successful, you do. There are no situations where you cannot succeed. Because trying is succeeding when it comes to God, and if you succeed according to God's standards, nothing else matters. If you promise yourself to do your best and work in whatever capacity you can, you are successful. Sick, healthy, tired, happy, sad, beaten, you only fail if you give up. So don't give up. Recommit yourself to keep on keeping on, and be happy! :) 

I love you all! You are amazing! 

Liebe Grüße aus Dortmund 

Elder Harps 

Elder Ashworth and I waiting in the blasted City Hall

That's some street art of the Frankfurt Temple

Elder Cameron and I on our split at a member's house eating Berliner 

Sunset driving back from Frankfurt 

Woche 53

Servus euch! 

Holy. Flipping. Cow.

This week has been the absolutely craziest week of my mission. So much has happened. I'll give a highlight reel. 

The biggest is that transfers were this weekend and not only did Elder McBride NOT get transferred like we expected, but I did! I got assigned as a Zone Leader and transferred to Dortmund, which is actually the zone I was already serving in (which is very unusual). I basically moved over two cities, got some new responsibilities, and a ton more work. Fortunately, I didn't have to say goodbye to really anyone. In fact I'll be splitting back in Essen and going on splits with Elder McBride.

Also though, a few transfers ago, there were 3 companionships of missionaries here in Dortmund, but after this week, we will be the only ones. Which means we take over all the other missionaries' investigators and work and holy cow we are going to be up to our necks teaching and baptizing and doing Area Book work. Taking it one step at a time haha. 

Before all these shenanigans though, last Friday we got to be there for the baptisms of two of the sisters' investigators who are awesome. It was a really cool experience though it took a lot of stress and improvising to get it to actually happen. It das really sweet, and Shahin and Kofi are way excited to be new members of the church.

Last Pday we went to an archeology museum and it was really cool. Super interesting and very well put together. We had a lot of fun. 

For just a quick spiritual thought. Something I kinda came up with recently and have been trying to apply is this phrase "It isn't enough to love others. They need to know it". What I mean by that is that unfortunately people can't read your mind! I've been trying, in all that I do, and with everyone I interact with - missionaries, leaders, investigators, companions, members, and every contact I have on the street - to communicate as quickly as possible that I love and care for them. Whether that be through service, by sincerely listening, or just being kind and supportive. 

What I have found is that if people understand that you love them, they will listen to you. The very first section of the chapter in Preach My Gospel (the Missionary manual) under "Ch 9: How to find people to teach" is "The Family Of God". We all are brothers and sisters. We all are loved by God. We all are trying to figure out how to be happy and survive life's ceaseless barrage of craziness and trial. We are all seekers, we are all imperfect, and we get to reach out and help one another. That's the most important thing in finding new people! In beginning relationships! When we can keep that perspective of love, patience, Humility,  and sincerity with all of our relationships (ALL of them), we will find much more joy in life, and others will respond to it. 

I would invite you to try this week to communicate to those you care about and even those you don't or struggle with that you love and support them. Serve them, tell them, spend time with them, listen to them. Help them understand a little more this week that you love them!

I love you all. You are amazing! Habt eine schöne Woche!!

Elder Harps

Pictures:

Me in a wolfskin at the museum haha

Essen Missionaries 

Shahin and Kofi! The coolest Recent Converts in Essen! 

Last district picture! Bye District Essen! 

Woche 52

So today marks one year since I went into the MTC! That makes me want to throw up! I really don't know where the last year went. And it's freaking me out. Missions are awesome and I'm so grateful I get to be out here serving the people of Germany. God is good. 

This week was busy as all get out!! It was great and also hectic! 

Last Pday we went to the Zoo in Duisburg and it was flipping awesome. They had a dolphin show and it was way cool. Also the lemurs roam free and I pet one! Our whole district was super happy the whole time. Man I miss animals. Also I took like 200 pictures so I'll attach some :) 

This week we met with Sarfo and he's way cool! He moved here from Ghana. He has had a pretty rough experience trying to find a job both in Ghana and here, and we were able to help him see that God has a plan for him. He's been reading slowly in the Book of Mormon and he accepted a baptismal date! Problem is he also then moved to Frankfurt! So we'll be handing him over to the missionaries there. That's 2 people who've moved on us! 

Laila is doing great. We moved her baptism 2 weeks back just because we felt really rushed and we want it to be the best experience ever for her. We want her to really just be ready to go, so we gave it a bit more time. She's doing great though. It's really cool to see the pieces clicking in place for her. She came to church again this week, she's making friend in the ward, and she's going to come to the Sisters' baptismal service tomorrow still. She's awesome

We've seen a ton of crazy miracles this last week as we've really tried to humble ourselves and follow the spirit in all things. We've been lead to crazy places and found really prepared people that we are way excited to work with. Yesterday for instance we went dooring for a finding activity and in 2 hours we only had time to talk to 11 people because we were let in twice and also we found another really cool guy on the street! They all 3 said they were really interested in learning more. That's been happening all week! It's so cool!

We split with Herne, I did my first 3 baptismal interviews (they all passed ️), we helped plan the baptism, I gave a talk on Sunday about Commitments, baked cookies, and we went home teaching and taught a crazy dude who loves fasting and has the most absolute wonked ideas about nutrition and health lol. It's been a crazy crazy week.

One of the coolest miracles this week was a lady we met with. She was a referral from Spain a few weeks ago, but she's been on vacation so we haven't been able to meet. We finally did, and over Starbucks hot chocolate we talked and taught her the message of the Restoration. I know I say this a lot, but she is the most prepared person I've ever seen. She loves her Savior Jesus christ and her family, but hasn't been satisfied with the churches she's visited. In the middle of the lesson, she stopped us, and said "So, what my the next step?". We told her that she can start by reading in the Book of Mormon and praying and asking God if it is true. She said "Okay, so I need to first read and pray so I can know if this church really was restored. Every night in going to read in this book instead of getting on Facebook". If was so cool! At the very end, she said, all on her own, "okay, I also need to think now about who else I can share this message with." it was the flipping coolest, and we are way excited to keep working with her. Hopefully everything works out!

I love you all! Have a great week!! 

Elder Harps