Tuesday 25 September 2012

September 24, 2012, Hannover



Dear Family!

Thanks for the emails and letting me know what’s been going on. Please tell the Young Men thanks for writing me, and also for the S’s for writing me a letter! Heidi also wrote me a birthday card which was really nice.

Your package that you sent me still hasn't arrived! I hope you sent it to the right place, haha. Hopefully I won't have to wait too much longer for it. It is funny cause everyday I say I’m going to get a package, and I get home and there's no package slip, lol. But I’m sure it’s on its way.

 My week has been a tough week but I’m doing well! Monday we had a big Zone P-day, and played sports for it. We went to a big baseball park and played soccer, football, and kickball. It was a lot of fun!

On Tuesday we taught L for the last time before she goes to Denmark. We'll see her again tomorrow for institute, but she's too busy so we won't be able to teach her beforehand. I hope she continues being taught when she's in Denmark. That would be awesome!

On Wednesday we got “Tschuss'd” by Frau H. She's been getting harassed by her neighbors (both Muslim and Christian) about meeting with us and about a bunch of other stuff. She's trying to move, but said that in the meantime that she doesn't want anything to do with religion. We then prayed, like 3 times, while tracting doors. that we would find someone new to teach. During our last prayer (15mins before we had to go home), we told Heavenly Father that we had the faith to see the miracles and knew that he could provide someone new for us to teach. We then left and the next person we talked to had a lot of interest and we were able to teach him about the Book of Mormon, and he wanted to meet with us again so he gave us his information. It was a big 'BAM' that God does answer prayers.

On Thursday we met with J and he told us that he's going to try to read half the Book of Mormon before he meets with us again. He was dead serious, too. He said that he could do it and he has a huge desire to start learning what the book says. So we're meeting him tomorrow and we'll see how far he got!

We also started an English class, to try to find new investigators, but so far it’s only been members who've been coming. Hopefully this week we'll see some non-members!

On Friday we held a ping pong night for us and university students. We met 2 new Chinese people, and afterwards gave them a tour of our church. We taught one of them about prayer and he was so excited that he wanted us to teach him how to do it. We then prayed with him to show him, and afterwards he said his own. It was so cool! And the spirit was so strong. It was really amazing hearing him tell us what he felt after he prayed. The other missionaries are now teaching him!

On Saturday in Bad Fallingbostal we found a new family of 4. They are from Jamaica and the mom let us in because we had an appointment with her 18 year old son. We went into his room with his little brother (14 years old) and taught them both the first lesson. They were so excited about it and about our message of the Book of Mormon that as we were leaving, they told us that we had to teach her mom the same thing that we just taught them. So their mom made us tea and then we sat in the living room with them and their mom, and taught her what we taught the boys. She loves us and wants us to come back. She's a chef in the British military so she's pretty busy most of the time, but we left “The Restoration” movie with them, and she prayed for us before we left. It was amazing.

On Sunday we were able to participate in 2 blessings; one for Brother M, because he's sick, and the other one for Sister S, also for healing and comfort. I love blessings and being able to use the priesthood power given to me from God.

Our lesson with the Chinese guy X, and his girlfriend J Q S, went awesome again! We watched “Finding Faith in Christ” in Chinese haha. And we ate popcorn (from the package you sent me) while we watched it. After wards they had some really good questions, and we were able to teach them about Faith and the importance of Faith. We also talked about Joy, and the difference between the joy members feel through the gospel and the happiness non-members feel. We had a hard time coming up with an example for it, but something Elder W said made me remember Lehi's dream and the joy he felt from the fruit. We used that example of why we're on a mission, and assigned them to read 1 Nephi 8 for their commitment. They are really awesome, and we're building a really strong relationship with one another. They trust us and it’s been a blessing being able to teach them.

We also needed to find a person again before we went home, and so we prayed and told our Heavenly Father again, that we knew he could bless us with a miracle. Within 5 minutes we found a couple who want us to come back to their home and teach them. The Lord is  pouring down his blessings on us. Even if these people don't follow through with commitments or end up not wanting to meet with us anymore, we've had the chance given to us, and they've had the chance given to them. 

We're working hard, and I know we'll see even more success soon. I love you guys and can't wait to hear from you again next week!

Love,
Elder Luening

Oh, one more amazing experience that happened. Brother P (the man that comes on joint teaches with us, that I fondly refer to as an angel) had to go to the hospital for a checkup because he's recovering from cancer treatments a couple months ago, and one of the procedures was that a surgeon needed to put a camera into his artery leading towards his heart to make sure it was clear from clogs and infections. He said as he was lying on the table, he prayed for the surgeon and for the surgeon’s hands, that everything would be okay, and that the surgeon wouldn't have any trouble. He said he then looked at the surgeon and he saw, standing beside/behind him, the Savior Jesus Christ. He said he didn't see his face, just his outline, but he said it was the most amazing experience he's ever had in his life. I believe him 100 percent. He's 80yrs old and the amount of faith he has is unreal. He's always on the Lords errand and always trying to find ways to serve the Lord. He's fully recovered and has been blessed by the Lord!

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