October 1, 2012, Hannover

Hello Luening Family!

 Wow, Mom that was quite the story, haha. I must say that you write very descriptive, lol. Building that cabin sounded like absolute chaos, and dangerous...but whatever works, haha, right Dad?! I'm glad you guys are all safe and that you've been doing good and keeping busy at home. I love hearing from you guys on Mondays. It’s what I look forward to every week, so thanks for writing me!

   This week seemed like it went by really fast. Elder Wightman and I were quite busy and maybe that’s why the time seemed like it went quick. I honestly love Hannover. I wouldn't mind staying here for my whole mission, as long as I get to go to Hamburg at least once, lol. It's starting to get colder, now that it’s the fall, but today the sun is shining “ohne Wolken”, and the temperature is a high of 18°! Beautiful!

  A couple of our appointments fell through this week, but we managed to find new people to fill up our time. We went to the student apartment buildings and posted our English Class and Ping Pong fliers everywhere. We made them small enough to fit 8 fliers on one page to save money on paper, and the church has a cutting table so we can copy and cut them there!

  On Tuesday we went to post them and put them in people’s mailboxes and there was an African lady there mopping the floors and singing. Elder W told her that he loved her singing. She smiled the biggest smile I’ve ever seen and said thank you, haha. She said it was a worship song and asked us who we were. We told her, and she said that a couple of weeks ago she found a Book of Mormon lying around by the door and she brought it home because it was in English and she wanted to read it. She said just stuck her nose in it a couple of times to read it because it talks about Jesus Christ and she's a Christian. She said she really likes it. Then she said she has 2 daughters (14yrs old and 12yrs old) who want to learn English. So, she's going to bring them by next week! It was so cool, I really hope we'll see her again and meet her. She didn't know her phone number so we have no way to contact her, but the experience was still really cool.

  L is off to Denmark, we took our last pictures together on Tuesday after Institute, and I hope she seeks out the missionaries there. It was a blessing being able to meet someone so prepared as she is. I'm certain she'll gain a testimony soon!

   Talking about hauling and chopping wood...we had a service project at a members house (Schwester G) and we cut logs with chainsaws and chopped and stacked them for her. We spent about 4 hours cutting, chopping, and stacking, before we were done. Elder H and Elder S and the Senior couple (Elder and Sister W) were also there and helped out. It was funny because Elder W and I were the only ones who knew how to use a chainsaw and chop wood with a splitter, haha. It was funny, but we managed just fine. I was a bit sore the next day, guess I'm not used to those kinds of motions anymore. I'm still doing morning exercise, and I think I’ll be setting a new record of how many chin-ups I can do in a row. I was at 25 about a month ago, and I think by the end of this week, I’ll be at 30! That'd be awesome. I'm still at the same weight...160 lbs, lol, haven't gained or lost, but my comp Elder W has lost 20lbs since we've been together which is really good for him. He's got 6 months left before he goes home, so he's set on losing until that time comes.
  We met with the less active member from a couple of weeks ago again. His name is Brother T. He's 30yrs old and lives alone without a job or a girlfriend. We're going to try to meet with him more often. He loves meeting with us and last time we met we taught him the importance of prayer in gaining a testimony. We're going to try to bring a joint teach with us which I think will be way better to help him come back to Church!

We had 2 new people at English class and afterwards we gave them a quick tour of the church. It was really good, and one of them came to church yesterday to check it out!

   On Friday we had a great lesson with a new Chinese man that we met. He's really good friends with X and he wanted a Book of Mormon. We taught him about it and drew out a picture for him of 2 continents and explained where the Bible and the Book of Mormon come from, and their purpose. We then taught him about prayer. He also goes to a Bible class so he's personally prayed before. We asked him if he's ever had an answer to a prayer yet. He said that he had a problem with his visa a little while ago. He applied for a long-term visa for school, but they sent him a 3 month visa. He then went to try to get it fixed, and prayed for everything to go okay and that God would help him. He said he then received his long-term visa a little later! Elder W and I jumped on that and testified that that was a direct answer from God that he was there. He's like, 'You really think that was God?' We looked at each other and were like, "Yeah!!" duuhh!! halloooo!!?!?! hahaha!!! The spirit was really strong in that lesson, and he wants to start meeting with us more often. I'm pretty sure that when China opens up for the Church, that place is going to boom! There are so many young people from there looking for God in their life.

  Oh, talking about Chinese people, that guy from ping pong last week that we took on the Church tour and prayed with, has set a baptismal date with the other missionaries!!! Miracles through church activities! Ping Pong this week was also good. We had 2 new people show up for that, too, but this time we didn't have time for a Church tour. We'll definitely make time next one!

  Thursday I did some MMA with J again. He said that he would have half the Book of Mormon read by then but when we asked him about it, he said he couldn't talk about it because he needed to analyze what he read. He said he read, but he didn't say much about it. Guess we'll see what happens. He came to play soccer in the church gym on Saturday, which was a lot of fun. We played for about an hour with some of the Young Single Adults and youth.

  The G family (Jamaicans) are amazing. The one son R (14yr old) asked me a lot of questions about prayer, church, and the Book of Mormon. He's so interested and wants a testimony so bad. He said he watched the restoration movie and loved it. He thought at first that it was going to be a preacher movie but then loved the fact that it was actually like a movie. He said he liked the message. He started reading the Book of Mormon, but found it hard to understand so he only read 2 pages. But he's going to keep trying and I told him I’d give him a couple good chapters to read so it’s more exciting for him, haha. They are awesome, though, and wish we could meet more with them, but its 25 Euros every time we go out there, and we only really have time on Saturdays, so we can only visit them once a week. We'll see what happens.

   I can't believe it’s the last week in this transfer already! I have a feeling Elder W's going to go, and so is Elder S. I think I’m going to start training and if I do, I hope I’ll be here for 2 transfers so that I'll be here in Hannover for Christmas!! Woot, lol. I love the mission. It's tough, I'm not going to lie, it pulls at you emotionally, spiritually, and physically, but one important thing that we learn is we're never alone!  ISAIAH 40:28-31!   28.  Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? There is no searching of His understanding.  29.  He giveth power to the faint: and to them that have no might, he increaseth strength.  30.  Even the youths shall faint and the young men shall utterly fall:  31.  But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength: they shall mount up with wings as eagles: and shall run and not be weary and shall walk and not faint.

   I love you guys.  And as to Christie, tell her congratulations from me, and that I'm happy for her!  I love you guys, I hope you have a good week. I'm doing well, and I think about you “oft”!

 “Bis naechste Woche”,

  Elder Lüning

Vocabulary: ohne Wolken = cloudless, clear                              oft = often