Ich kann es nicht glauben dass wir schon zu diesem Punkt gekommen sind... Wahnsinn. Absoluter Wahnsinn
I have no idea how to start this email. I apologize for the scatterbrainedness 
This will be my last group email!
I don't know where the time has gone. Two years is truly too short.
I still have another 2 weeks here in Germany (and one more pday) but I figured I'd just write one last group email now instead of later.
Well, it's been an amazing last 3 weeks. Honestly 3 of the absolute best weeks of my entire mission. So. Many. Miracles.
Logistical stuff first:
We had 5 splits in the last 3 weeks. I got to be with Elder Halling from Bitburg, Elder Felix from Heidelberg, my old friend Elder Reesner from Mannheim, Elder Oakeson from Ramstein, and Elder Davis from Karlsruhe.
They are some amazing Elders.
We also had my last Zone Conference last week, which was pretty dang bittersweet. The spirit was strong but it was hard emotionally. Those are some dang good people, friends, and missionaries I had to say auf Wiedersehen to. The testimony meeting at the end got cut as well which was lame. But my training for the other missionaries went really well.
I also had my last interview with Präsident Boyer. He is a very good man and a fantastic mission president. I've learned a lot from him about humility in leadership and just how important expressing love is. He's amazing.
The Lord is blessing the City of Kaiserslautern.
Last Monday night, after Zone Conference I was on Split with Elder Roesner, one of my very best friends. He was in the MTC with me and in my first district for the first 6 months of my mission. We go way back.
Well one of the things we talked about at Zone Conference was re-emphasizing a promise that Elder Ballard gave us last October that if we made sure, even on the busiest of days, to talk to at least 10 people, we would see miracles in finding the Lord's elect.
Elder Roesner and I got back to our apartment at about 20:15 and starving. We were ready to eat, but I remembered that we hadn't yet talked to 10 people each. We said a prayer and felt like we should go out again. We put our jackets on and headed outside.
It was cold, and really dark, and nobody wanted to talk to us. There weren't many people out. But we kept going, looking for 10 people each. We ended up in front of a Health Clinic near our house. We talked to this lady for a bit and she was nice but didn't have interest. So we walked off and talked to a dude just a few feet away taking a smoke break.
We told him we were from our church, and asked him if he believed in God. He told us he did, and that he desperately wants to meet with us, but didn't have time right then because his grandmother was dying in the clinic right then. He tried to give us his number, but didn't have his phone on him, so he gave us his address and told us to come by the next day. He said his name was Lorenz.
Well Lorenz was the 20th person so we headed back inside so we wouldn't be late home. We were very excited.
Elder Roesner and I went by the following morning but he wasn't home. We left a note with our number on it in his mailbox (as he had requested) and finished our awesome split.
The next day on Wednesday, Lorenz called Elder Bradshaw and me. He thanked us for coming by and told us that his grandmother had passed away the day before. He said he was driving to his mother that evening, but that he wanted to meet that week and we made an appointment out for Friday.
We went by on Friday and had such an amazing lesson. We had planned to teach him about God's plan for us, but the spirit actually guided us differently. We ended up talking about how the Atonement of Jesus Christ can help us change and overcome trials. He opened up and shared his life's story with us. He's had a hard time and has been trying to recover his life for the last 2 years (and has done very well at it too). He's just ready for the restored gospel. We talked a lot about prayer and how to study the scriptures and apply them to ourselves. It went amazing.
Lorenz is such a miracle. We are meeting again tomorrow and he said he wants to come to church on Sunday this week. He is awesome!
Jens is another miracle :)
So about the time I got here to Ktown a less active part member family started coming back to church. The wife was baptized in California a long time ago but her husband is German and is not a member. He's amazing, and has such a strong testimony already. He hasn't missed a week of church since he finally started coming. Even on one week where his wife was sick so he drove their 3 kids 40 minutes through a windy Germany Valley alone to get to church on time! He bore his testimony last month at fast and testimony meeting. He's unbelievable, one of my favorite people ever.
Jens is the guy who taught us all fencing a few pdays ago!
Well we visited their family last week with the Sisters (the sisters are teaching their daughter) so that we could get to know him better and start teaching. It went amazing. We read a few scriptures in the Book of Mormon and talked about how God strengthens us in times of trial. He has such a strong grasp on God and the Gospel and just loves it all. He's so open and humble and intelligent.
So Sunday we just asked him if he wanted us to teach him and meet with him. He was really excited. He travels for work 4 days a week so we said we could just call and teach him over the phone.
Monday night (while I was away on split in Karlsruhe) Elder Bradshaw and his companion taught him about the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and he loved it! He said he has had a ton of questions and has wanted to join the church, but hasn't know what to do or who to talk to. We were an answer to his prayers. He's currently praying about when he wants to be baptized and we will be calling him again tonight! He's amazing!
At Church on Sunday in the German Branch there were literally more returning member families and friends of the church than active members. 2 Different Reterning families came, as well as one of our other amazing friends, Melkie. The sisters had 3 different and progressing people show up as well. They each have their own miraculous stories but I don't have time or space to explain them all. It is absolutely mind blowing how openly and directly the Lord is blessing the people here and opening hearts.
A few more noteworthy points and people:
Kaiserslautern Zone is exploding with faith and miracles. All 5 of our districts and just destroying it right now, and we attribute it all to their faith and diligence. The mission as a whole is kinda in a pretty low point (winter time is really hard) but here in KTown Zone the sun is shining! We've been finding prepared people left and right, all across the board. It's amazing to me how much faith everyone here has, and how consistently and miraculously the Lord is responding.
Last night we got to visit another returning member. He moved here from Syria 7 years ago and has had a very difficult life. He's been struggling lately but we had a really amazing visit. He moved and changed numbers, but he called us last Monday and asked for the Mainz missionaries' number because he was headed up there and needed their help.
The Mainz sisters called us a few days ago and said we should visit him. He's super intelligent and relatable. He had one of his friends sit down too, and she was really interested. It was cool to talk about his faith and also watch him teach parts of the gospel to his friend. I felt like he is just itching to have that fire back. We are going to visit him again next week sometime.
This last one ties in to the few words I'd like to leave.
Yesterday we visited a returning family in a city called Frankenstein. They have a really hard life as well are are very overwhelmed. We came over to help them organize their apartment a bit but when we got there, they told us they'd forgotten we were coming. The wife was headed out and the husband was pretty depressed. He told us that the job they'd wanted to get done wouldn't work anymore because of weather and his wife being gone and unable to watch their 4 dogs. He told us to just give a spiritual thought.
But we had driven out there and were on service clothes and we knew they needed help. So we asked him to show us around their apartment and we'd see what we could do. He said he didn't know where to start cleaning up the house. Everything was so full of clutter there was no room to organize it. He had pretty thoroughly given up.
We took a look and had the idea to take all the clutter from one room and put it with that in another room so we could have space to start organizing what needed to be kept, sold and thrown away.
His eyes lit up and he started thinking. We ended up taking all the stuff from one of their rooms and putting it up in their attic. It took 2 hours but at the end, I had organized their attic enough that not only did all the stuff from that room fit, but they still had even more space open than when we started. They finally had room to breathe and get started on organizing.
He was so grateful. He was puuuuumped. He said he hadn't been so excited in a long time. He had been so depressed when we got there and after he just wanted to keep going. He called us again today thanking us and told us his wife was blown away. He wants to get it all done and we're headed back next week sometime. It was amazing.
Well I cannot believe it's over.
I'm aware I still have 2 weeks left and I'm hitting it as hard as I can in them, but holy cow the time has flown.
It's really bittersweet. Germany feels like home. I love the people here and all their quirks and customs. I love the food and all the experiences with the refugees from so many different countries. I love speaking German. I love the wards I've served in and the people I've grown close with. I love the missionaries I've been able to serve.
I don't really know what to say. I've grown. Pretty much in every way I could never have imagined.
I've felt on my mission a lot like this returning family. So overwhelmed I don't know where to start. So many weaknesses or stressors or things to worry about or people to care for that I can't see at all. All I can see are the problems and shortcoming and the things I can't get done.
But I also know that the Savior can do anything. Of all the miracles that he pours out upon us, the greatest is his ability to change our hearts.
When I've done all I can to overcome, to solve, to keep going and I still fall short, I've simply prayed for Christ to change me. I know he always provides a way. Sometimes, that means he changes the problem. Sometimes, he just changes us.
There is absolutely nothing that we cannot overcome with his help. No matter what comes, we will always triumph if we stay by his side. When all else fails, stick to the word of God and keep the commandments. If you do that, nothing can stop you.
I love my Savior. He has supported me in my times of need. He's carried me when I couldn't walk anymore. I've never been more tried and tested, and I've never triumphed or been so happy in my entire life. He has not let me down.
Christ can come into no matter how messy an apartment and work miracles we never even dreamed of. It will take work and require us to do hard things and make right choices, but he can make us whole. I know that that is true.
I'll be giving a talk about what I've learned on my mission on the 17 of February. And on the 24th. You all are invited! I hope to see you there! Mom please give everyone info as to when and where. I've no idea
I love you all! Thank you for your prayers and support. You are amazing and God loves you
Elder Harps
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