Woche 96

Ein schönes gutes schlingliches Morgenchen an euch! Ich freue mich dass ich hier was auch immer auf Deutsch schreiben kann, und dass niemand es wahrscheinlich übersetzen wird!

It's been a good week! 

Thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes! My birthday was definitely a day to remember 

We've been on 3 splits this last week and visited 4 District Councils and we have another split this weekend! I'm also currently on a split! It's been real busy.

Last weekend I got to go on split with the amazing Elder Jukes! Elder Jukes is in my group and was in my mtc district as well as one of my districts in Dortmund! It was really good to serve with him again. He's an amazing missionary. We had fun in Saarbrücken. 

On Monday we visited the Mannheim District and the Heidelberg District for their district councils. It was a lot of fun. I got to see some old friends like Elder Roesner, Elder Frost, and Sister Ruesch! The spirit was strong.

Then I stayed in Heidelberg to split with the hilarious Elder Calderon in the Spanish branch! Our mission has 2 elders assigned to a Spanish branch and they learn Spanish! We had an appointment with them all in Spanish and I had no idea what anybody was saying haha. It was a blast. Elder Calderon has so much energy and love. 

So the next day on Tuesday (my birthday) Elder Calderon and I went to leave the apartment to split back with our companions to realize we had locked ourselves inside our apartment and couldn't find the keys! We prayed and searched for them for about 30 minutes before we finally found them somehow wedged in a crazy couch cushion. We had a good laugh and missed our train, but we made it finally back to Kaiserslautern. 

We split back and Elder Webster and I drove to our own District council, only to get a call from the Spanish Elders and learn that we hadn't given them their train ticket back, and so we turned around and ran back to bahnhof. It was quite the logistical adventure, similar to my last birthday when the other elders in my district locked themselves out and we had to do a surprise power split to save them 

That night though was our Ward Christmas Party from the American Ward and it was amazing. So much food and sooo many people!! Elder Webster and I bought Christmas Sweaters and wore light up Christmas beanies that his mom sent us. The ward loved it and we had a ton of fun. It felt really good to be there. 

Yesterday we visited the District Council in Karlsruhe, where my former companion Elder McBride is killing it as District Leader. It's good to know the district is in good hands. Afterwards we split (and are still splitting) with the Rhein-Pfalz Elders. I'm with Elder Penrod and it's been a great split. 

Life is good! It's crazy. We have an Area Seventy touring the mission next week so we'll get to see the missionaries from Friedrichsdorf, Frankfurt, Kaiserslautern, and Nürnberg Zones. Im excited! Last year's mission tour was one of the highlights of my life! 

I hope you all have a great week! Keep serving and keep loving! Thanks again for the birthday wishes!

Macht's gut! 

Elder Harps 

Pics:

Elder Jukes and I in Saarbrücken

Karlsruhe District

Heidelberg District

Mannheim District

Us and the Sisters with Santa

Me holding Elder Webster 

Elder Webster and I with Santa (x2) 

Woche 95

(Sorry the email is late! I wrote it last week but forgot to send it) 

Servus euch!

Well it's been an eventful last 2 weeks!

Transfers came and went, and I got transferred... I was not expecting that! Elder Johnson and I were expecting to stay together in Friedrichsdorf, but the Assistants called last Saturday night and told me I was heading to Kaiserslautern! I'll be spending my last 2 transfers here covering 2 wards: a German Branch and one of 3 American Military wards! We are right outside a Military base called Ramstein, which is the largest foreign based US Military base in the entire world. There are loads of Americans in this area and it's really trippy. English Church on Sunday really threw me for a loop!

I was very sad to leave Friedrichsdorf, but the Lord has helped me be really excited to be in a new Zone and area. I spent the weekend saying goodbye to a bunch of members in Friedrichsdorf who I will miss. The area was good to me and I watched the members grow a lot.

My new companion is named Elder Webster! He's from Saint George, Utah. We have hit it off incredibly well this last week and a half. He's a really good missionary and a really funny person. I'm excited to work more with him.

We have done mostly planning this last week, trying to prepare for the new transfer, the end of the year, the beginning of next year, Light the World, and figuring out what we want to do with the 2 wards we are assigned to. It's been quite exhausting! But we have been making really solid progress, and we are almost done (or so it feels like haha).

We had MLC yesterday in Frankfurt and I got to see Elder Adams again (among my other friends)! It was a really good time and a very effective council. I'm grateful for President Boyer and his leadership 

One of the coolest experiences of my mission was on sunday! We stopped by President Adams' house, the Stake President for the American Military stake, so that he could meet me before he left for a training in America. After we finished our quick talk, he said Mission Prep class was going on and we were welcome to stay and participate.

We hung around and did some practices with 6 of the youth in the ward preparing to go on missions. Holy cow was it fun! The spirit was unbelievably strong as they practiced teaching us the message of the Restoration. They were so open to learning, and they were incredible teachers. I was blown away with how well they taught us. 

It really really inspired me to be better with my own teaching in its simplicity. And just helped me recognize again how good and how important our message of Christ's restored church really is. 

For instance in one of the practices, they taught me how to pray and then kneeled down and invited me to pray with them. I (as an investigator) first didn't understand that I was meant to say the prayer and so we waited in silence for a few seconds as we all waited for someone to speak. They realized I hadn't understood, and so they reinvited me to pray. I looked at the guide they had given me, and then told them I didn't feel comfortable praying that way, and I asked if I could try praying the way I had grown up praying, and that next time I could try their way.

The Sister looked at me and just said "No, this is how God wants you to pray. This will help you come closer to God more than anything else." I felt the spirit and said a prayer.

But what was so amazing to me was simply how often I have not done the same thing in lessons!! I wish I could say I am a perfect teacher and missionary, but all the time I will cave to awkward situations like that and just try and "ease them into it". But that's not right! What she said is true! What we have is the most important message on the earth and God's path will help people more than any other.

Life is great! I hope you all have a great week! Ich habe euch lieb! 

Elder Harps

Pics:

Elder Johnson and I before transfers

MLC

Me and the Familie Lillbäck from Usingen

Elder Webster, myself, and the Bitburg Distrikt! 

Elder Johnson and I with Jeremiah

Elder Adams and I at MLC! 

Me with our Ward Mission Leader Jonatan

Woche 93

Ein kleines servüschen an euch! 

Well somehow its already been 2 weeks again. I don't really understand how time works anymore but it's not very nice haha.

I'm loving my time here in Friedrichsdorf. Everything is just a really rewarding and satisfying blur. There is so much to do and we rarely have a day without some Form of meeting to attend. But the work is cruising forward and it's cool to see the members making strides. 

We split with the Wetterau and Hanau Elders last week. I got to be with Elder Felix again in Wetterau! It was a really good split. Second splits are so much fun because there's a lot less trying to figure the person out and get know them and more jokes and work! We had a party. 

I also got to split with Elder King on Hanau again. It was just as amazing as the first time. He's a really great district leader. It's been a lot of fun having him in my district. 

We also got to participate in the Baptism of a kid in the ward! His parents are super great and asked us to teach him the missionary lessons in preparation, even though he's just turning 8. His baptism was great! They invited a ton of friends too and it was awesome. 

We have only a few people we are teaching currently, but they are making slow and steady progress. 

We had a really cool lesson with a man named Frank last Monday. Frank moved here from Nigeria and he works as a cook! We had given him 3 Nephi 11 from the Book of Mormon to read between our last visit and then, and we asked him if he had read. He had! And he had some questions. We discussed baptism and priesthood authority and answered his questions.

As missionaries, we really stress the importance of reading the Book of Mormon, but 100% just as important is praying for an answer as to if it is true. The book is great, but it's lasting power comes though the confirmation of its truth by the Holy Ghost. That's when the answer becomes unshakeable and life changing.

Frank hadn't prayed, and we wanted to figure out how to make it personal to him. We wanted him to care, one way or the other if the Book was true. He needed a connection. 

So we asked him "Frank, if God was sitting here in this chair at this table, what would you ask him?". Frank kind of muttered and said he had too much to ask and he couldn't think of anything specific. But we asked him again "if you had 1 question, what would it be?" 

He looked up at us, and said "Okay, you know, actually I would ask what's up with Adam and Eve. Why did God allow them to fall?" We smiled and he explained his concerns further. When he was finished and we had established that we understood the question, we wrote it down, opened 2 Nephi 2 in the Book of Mormon and promised Frank he would find an answer as we read the chapter together. He said "Really?! Right now?" to which we said "yes".

We read the chapter (which was basically written purely to answer that important question) and the spirit was strong. At the end, we discussed briefly.

Frank said it made a lot more sense, and he wanted to reread it on his own time and ponder more. He said "this was written to answer my question directly. I need to think more". He particularly liked verse 25 which reads:

"Adam fell that men might be, and men are that they might have joy" 

It was just a really great experience for him in finding answers through the Book of Mormon. That personal connection and importance was reinforced and now he has a reason to pray and seek. 

I know the Book of Mormon is true and that it can answer our questions! If not directly, then the Holy Ghost that it invites can. I have found countless answers in its pages. 

Life is great, Germany is amazing, the weather is finally getting cold, fall is almost over. 

Ich hab euch alle sehr lieb! Macht's gut und bis nächstes Mal! 

Elder Harps

PS: Our District went to the Lego store in Frankfurt last week for Pday and we made ourselves as Lego people. It was really funny

Pics:

Elder Felix and I at an appointment in Friedberg 

Elder Johnson, myself, John and Marcus visiting a baptisms in Wiesbaden

Josué's Baptism! 

Abandoned railroad tracks

Our District as Lego people

Lunch at Ikea with the Koblenz Elders

Us with the Familie Jaursch! (Josué's family) 

Our District Council