April 10, 2112

April 10, 2012. MTC (2:54 PM)

Dear Family,

Thank you for all the wonderful letters you have sent me through the week! They all mean so much to me! Mom thanks for the letter you sent me about being fully converted, it meant so much to me. It gave me the spiritual boost that I needed at the time. I had a rough start to the week and it really got me to focus! You all have been writing me all the time and I am always pumped when I see that I have mail.

So this week has been pretty crazy! Tuesday, I was released as District Leader. DLs only serve for 3 weeks in the MTC so my time was up. I loved it, but I feel proud to pass the torch!

Our investigator lessons are going awesome. I am in love with the German language! My vocabulary is getting so much better every day, but my grammar, that is another story. But I finally understand the nominative, accusative, dative thing now! It is so much easier to understand than I thought. Brother S and Brother Z are amazing teachers. They really make us think about how to help an investigator. I would ask them, "What do you think we should teach next?", and Brother Z would say, " I don't know, hmmm, .. I think that you Elders are the only ones who can receive revelation for what your investigators need. They really teach us how to rely on personal prayer and personal revelation. They teach us how to use personal study and personal planning more effectively. I learned how important it is to be prepared everyday for a lesson, or just in general.

On Friday it snowed here! Like, what the heck! All the flowers have been blooming and it finally felt like spring, then BAM! Snow at 7;30 AM. I took pictures because I couldn't believe it! But, the weather has been mostly warm and it has been really nice!

On Thursday, Sister T asked me to give her a blessing of comfort. I did with Elder A, and it was amazing how strong the spirit is through the priesthood. While I was giving the blessing my hands were shaking, but my voice was insanely calm and I just knew exactly what to say even though I didn't know what was bothering her. I could feel the spirit so strong, It was incredible! I knew that it was exactly what the Lord wanted her to hear and what He wanted to bless her with. I have never felt the spirit so powerfully in my life. The priesthood is so real and the power from it is unbelievable!

The sisters are having a hard time lately. They have been sick and discouraged so they talked to the Branch Presidency and are working with them to get through their problems. They are helping the sisters a lot and I feel that they are starting to focus better now and really rely on the Lord for strength. the sisters asked Elder T and I to give them a blessing of comfort on Sunday. I blessed Sister L and then Elder T blessed Sister I. We didn't know what it was about, but we just gave the blessings. What we blessed them with seemed to be what they needed. It was unbelievable how grateful the sisters are for the Priesthood and how thankful they are that we conduct ourselves as servants of the Lord. They have a lot of trust in us.

As a district we fasted on Friday for the sisters. Elder T and I got a cold on Thursday, so we only fasted 'til lunch, (As missionaries, we are only allowed to fast 24 hours without food or water, so dinner to dinner.) but Elder A and Elder M fasted until dinner. The sisters are getting better, and we fasted again on Sunday.

On Sunday, President Boyd K Packer came to our Easter Devotional and spoke on Jesus Christ. It was very powerful and he got me to think of things in a different way that really opened my eyes. It was really great!

Thanks so much for all the Easter packages and the shorts. We have so much candy and chocolate! Like, Grandma and Grandpa, the Marks family, Jocelyn and some others (too many to list right now) sent me letters and packages for Easter. I loved it and it uplifted me so much to know how many people are thinking about me! SO, I THANK EVERYONE!!

I'll try to get some pictures printed and send you some! They take three days to print and then about a week to mail to Canada!I'm doing well! Thanks again for writing all the time! Love you guys so much!

Till next week, 
 Elder Luening

PS My Canadian accent (Eh!) is rubbing off on my district! They are starting to say it now too!

Note:
On April 24, Chris leaves the MTC and has the following initial address at the Mission Home:

Elder Christopher Luening 
Germany Berlin Mission
Zerbster Str. 42
12209 Berlin 
Germany

It would be great if he had a couple of letters waiting for him when he arrives! we know that mail slows down in the mission field!