Woche 64

Moin moin!!

Hey hey hey, this week was awesome. We had a LOT of way cool stuff happen this week.

To start, on saturday, all the missionaries in this and one other Zone got to come together for a conference of missionaries to hear from Elder Ronald A. Rasband of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles!!! Our tickets got us there really early, so we got to sit literally in the front row and it was so cool! It was cool to hear him speak, but also to just realize how human the apostles really are. They are special witnesses of our Savior Jesus Christ, but they are people too. People who have had their own real experiences and learned their own lessons, and people whom the Lord has asked to share their witnesses with others. It was a really sweet experience

We also had our split with the Assistants this week! I got to split with Elder Larson!! I love Elder Larson. We had a way fun time in Frankfurt. We found a way cool student on the University. We talked for a long time and taught him a lot and he was way excited to start reading in the Book of Mormon we gave him and meet again. We also had a way cool lesson teaching the Plan of Salvation to another student. She was way cool! It was such a great split and it was a lot of fun working so hard. 

Elder Rasband shared a quote from his wife as they served as a mission president and wife in New York and it is way good. They had had some struggles trying to help their missionaries be obedient. They had talked about it for months at conferences and meetings with missionaries, about how they need to be exactly Obedient and not cut corners, but nothing was changing. Finally his wife said to him, "Honey, this isn't working". She encouraged him to shift his focus. Instead of hammering obedience over and over again, she suggested that they instead focus on the Savior. She said 

"The more you know your Savior, the more you will love him. And the more you love him, the greater the desire you will have to serve him"

They focused on nothing but the Savior for months, and it worked. Obedience fixed itself. The missionaries became more charitable and more Obedient and Christ-like. 

That quote and pattern is true. It is very simple but very powerful. I loved it and we've been sharing it with a ton of people already. 

As we come to know our savior, our love will increase. As our love increases, so will our desire to serve him and his children.

I would invite you all to learn more about Jesus Christ this week, whether it be in the scriptures, in a conference talk, or some other way! Come to know him and his life and his sacrifice better, and it will bless your life. I promise you.

You are a son or daughter of a Heavenly father who loves and knows you! He wants you to come home to him. Come to know him and his Son.

Have a great week everyone! Ich hab euch alle sehr lieb!!

Elder Harps 

Reunion with my last district in Langen 8 months later! 

3 Generations! Elder Adams (My trainee) is training Elder Nielson!

Springtime in Germany

Elder Rasband front and center
Elder Harps, one row back and a little to the left. 

Woche 63

Liebe Grüße aus Dortmund!!

Diese Woche war toll! This week was awesome!

First off, transfer calls came and went, and Elder Heller and I are staying together here in Dortmund! We are stoked out of our mind. This transfer is a bit longer than normal actually, which we are very grateful for after this last accelerated one. We have a lot of stuff to do and now we have the time to really get going on it! It's gonna be an awesome transfer!

Last weekend we split with Hagen and I got to go to Hagen with Elder Jukes! We had an absolutely amazing time. We got to set 3 baptismal dates with investigators in Hagen on the split!! It was so much fun, and they were so cool and humble! We were literally dancing in the streets the rest of the night.

However we also locked ourselves out of the apartment. But the other elders came and gave us their keys so all was well until we locked those keys also in the apartment. We Locke dour selves out twice in about 2 hours. Then we decided to make it a surprise power split in Dortmund to pick up the spare key in our apartment there haha. It was an adventure for sure

It's FINALLY Springtime! Yayay Frühlingszeit!!!

The weather has been way warm lately and we've been living up that short sleeved shirt life. Man I've missed it!

This transfer Dortmund got another set of sisters! Which is way cool! That means that our ward has one set of Elders and 2 sets of sisters! which I've never seen before but It's exciting and will be a lot of fun! We are excited!

Our Zone got major blessed this week with miracles and we are so grateful! We've been trying out a Prayer Chain where we all pray for each other by name ever morning and evening and ask for God to bless us with Miracles and holy cow has it worked. The power of prayer is a very real thing.

Two weeks ago when we started the chain, our Zone set a 6 month record for finding new investigators to teach, but this last week we got almost DOUBLE the previous record we just set! It was absolutely insane, and what's best is that it came from all over the Zone! Everyone was getting blessed and it is soooo cool! God is good and he really does hear our prayers. He wants us to succeed and just waits for us to ask him for help!

I know that prayer works, that miracles are real, and that God will help us as we step out of our comfort Zone and into the growth Zone!

I love you all and I wish you an amazing week! Ich hab euch sehr sehr Lieb!

Elder Harps 

Sorry we weren't good at taking pictures this week!

Woche 62

Guten Tag liebe Freunde!

This one's gonna be short! 

This week was way good but I'm once again short on time and also I have a terrible cold right now. 

We went on 3 splits this week, and have another planned for tomorrow! 

I got to go back to Essen and serve with Elder Sanders! He's a stud of a missionary and he's only been out here for 3 weeks! We had a blast and ate a lot of really good food. 

Then on Monday we got to split with the Münster elders and Elder McClellan and I were together! We taught 3 way solid lessons here in Dortmund and it was awesome. Elder McClellan is a stud

Then immediately after we headed out to Paderborn and I got to go on split with Elder Dutson! We had a way fun time and Paderborn was way pretty! I really liked the area. Maybe I'll get to serve there someday!

That's basically been our whole week! Today we went and played basketball with some members, Shumon and Shekh, as well as some missionaries. It was fun.

Transfers are this weekend and I'm praying Elder Heller and I get to stay together! We probably will so I'm excited. 

That's all I got this week! Remember that God loves you and to count your strengths! 

Bis nächstes Mal!

Elder Harps 

District meeting in Hamm

Elder Dutson and I in Paderborn 

Elder Heller and I walling through a forest to church

Street Display in Unna a few weeks ago

Woche 61

Schönen guten Morgen liebe Freunde!

Sorry I didn't write an email last week! But in writing this week haha

This week has been crazy. I don't remember the last normal week I had. Or normal day haha

We had a bunch of stuff happen. We've had a ton go on in the last bit. We split with Hagen and I got to go there and serve with Elder Yorgason, who is awesome. We had a lot of fun contacting a bunch of people and also eating burritos at a members house. Los geht's! 

We played sport last Pday in Hamm which was a blast. Way good time with some way good missionaries. I'll attach pictures

Shumon and Shekh are doing absolutely amazing. They both are just growing and learning in leaps and bounds. Reviewing the Plan of Salvation with them and the Atonement of Jesus Christ has just been so cool to see them grow and grasp a little more fully the Sacrifice that Christ performed for us. The pieces are fitting more and more together, and it's awesome. They also are doing great getting integrated with the Ward, just need to get them callings and all will be set. They are awesome.

We had General Conference this weekend! Holy cow was it amazing. That Solemn assembly to sustain President Nelson was so cool. I'm very grateful I was able to take part in it, and I know that he is truly a prophet of God. The talks were way good, though I still haven't seen Sunday afternoon (due to crazy time difference stuff. will see next week). 

Little Spiritual thought!

I love the talk "Until Seventy Times Seven" by Lynn G. Robbins about Repentance:

"'Change' is the principal word the Guide to the Scriptures uses to define repentance: 'A change of mind and heart that brings a fresh attitude toward God, oneself, and life in general.' That kind of change results in spiritual growth. Our success, then, isn’t going from failure to failure, but growing from failure to failure without any loss of enthusiasm."

This is so important. At Institute a few weeks ago with out investigators, something was said that was cool. Actually it was a connection I made while he was talking. We were talking about how it's expected of us to make mistakes and what he said is 

 "We are allowed to make mistakes" which didn't quite sit right with me. It's not okay to sin and God cannot look upon sin with any degree of allowance, but it is okay to be weak. 

What he adjusted it to was "We are allowed to learn". This is true. And this principle taught in this general conference talk explains it well. 

Mistake + Change = Learning

Without this repentance, this change, our mistakes are just mistakes. But with this change, we fulfill the purpose of God for us. The only way we can fail is if we don't change! So let's make sure we are growing and learning and becoming!

You all are awesome! I highly recommend you read through general conference again or for the first time! It's truly amazing!

LG 

Elder Harps