November 5, 2012, Hannover

We didn't have candles, so we put paper in it and lit it on fire for pictures, ha-ha!

Dear Family,

This week went by way too fast. I woke up this morning and couldn't believe it was Monday already! I had a really good week, and had a lot of fun, so that's probably why it went so fast.

On Tuesday we went to Bad Fallingbostal, and taught the G Family. We made some music and beats with R and C, and also taught them about the Kingdoms of Glory. It was a really cool lesson. They got really excited when they heard that we had a modern day Prophet, and Temples, and that the Priesthood has the power to seal families together for eternities. We want to teach them about those things so bad, but we're contemplating on how far we want to get ahead without teaching their mom too. Their mom hasn't been around for the lessons lately, but has no problem at all with us teaching her boys. We're debating on whether we just continue teaching the boys, or if we stop and teach them all together. It's not that big of a deal, but we're praying about it and trying to figure it out.

After teaching them, we went to the T's for dinner. We taught Brother T twice this week: Word of Wisdom, and Law of Chastity. Both of them went really well, and were really powerful. He's like a sponge, just soaking everything up! And he's way excited for his baptism coming up this Saturday! He has asked Brother C (a Fijian man in the Ward) to baptize him and we're really excited for the day! It'll be Saturday Nov 10th at 6pm. :)  So we're doing all the plans and getting the meeting organized! He has 1 more lesson with us and then an interview and that’s it! Then he's ready!

   We also visited the B's this week. They have 2 daughters ages 9 and 8, who they would like us to teach, so that they can be baptized! They are a crazy bunch of kids, ha-ha. But really cute kids! It was tough at first teaching them because they made fun of mine and Elder B's German, but then the Spirit came into the lesson and the paid attention! Well, we had a picture book that we used, but I'm still convinced that it was because of the Spirit, ha-ha. We tried really hard to meet with J (African) this week. But he had absolutely no time to meet, so we'll have to change the date for his baptism if that’s still something that he wants.

    On a cool note, we had another cool finding experience. We talked to a lady who was probably in her late 20's/early 30's, and she was not interested. As she was about to leave, I asked her where she was from because I heard an accent. She told us she was from Ukraine, and then we had a real conversation with her about life and how we all ended up in Germany. Elder B and I bore strong testimony about why we're in here and we found out that she's a Christian. She ended up giving us her address and a time to come by to teach her. We found out that she has 2 kids but weren't sure if she had a husband or boyfriend. At about 9:30PM she texted our phone and said that she wouldn't be able to meet with us. She said that she was sorry but wished us luck and all the best. It sucked! I wondered if I should reply or not, and I decided not to. In the morning at about 10:00AM, she called us and asked if we had received her message. I told her I did, and thanked her for sending it. She then said she was sorry but she had to pick up her husband at that time and asked if we could still come by on another time and day! I said, “You bet!” And she was really happy when we said goodbye. Miracle! We're so excited to visit and meet her again this week!

  On Friday, we spent the whole day in P-day clothes, lol. We helped the K family move into an apartment on the top floor of the building (5 stories), lol. They fed us some really good chilli soup afterwards and stuffed us with brownies and cake :) There were 2 young 24 year old guys that helped out too, and they drove us to the Church. We gave them a Church tour and had a good talk with them as we waited for people to show up for Ping-Pong. It was good, and one of them was really interested, so we'll try to meet with him again. On Saturday and Sunday we had a huge Stake Conference in Hannover! A lot of members showed up from the surrounding areas and it was full! Afterwards we had lunch at the B's and then we taught X, J Q S, and S (our Chinese investigators) :) We taught them this week about prophets, and the Ten commandments. They were so into it too, and wrote down every commandment they found. We asked them if they will keep them and they laughed and said yes. They’re like, we live pretty much all of these already! So it went well. I love them; they’re so awesome.

   We'll that's a little bit about how my week went. President Kosak gave us some good advice about when we're out on the streets. He said 'laechel und strahl!'(laugh and beam), haha! It seems to be working! Elder B and I laughed because after every appointment, as we're sitting on the train, we're smiling about something! At the end of every day, I always tell myself or say out loud, I love this place! (Hannover) Things will be different in January, but that's a ways away still.

I'm so glad that I'm on a mission. I love it. I'm glad everything worked out with your calling as Relief Society President, Mom. And I'm glad that Grandpa's surgery went well! Sometimes I get caught in thoughts about what I'm going to be doing when I get home. ‘Cause right now, I have no idea. Well, I have some ideas but that's just what they are, ideas and possibilities. Don't worry I'm not worrying about it, and it's not distracting me or anything. (Just fun sometimes to think and wonder about.) 

I'm really excited for Jeremy, Charlene, and Colten! That's awesome news! I can't wait to find out where they will serve and when they will leave. Keep me updated, I love about hearing what they've been doing!

The package came on Tuesday! (The one that got sent back to dad's boss.) I laughed so hard when I opened it and saw what was in it. Not bad, Mom, ha-ha! And the Advent Calendar is hung up on my wall! I can't believe you took so much time to make something like that! Thanks so much! We carved pumpkins for Halloween and found that we didn't have candles, so we put paper in it and lit it on fire for pictures, ha-ha! I also made pumpkin seeds and Elder H made pumpkin bread. It was a good night and a lot of fun. I love you guys. Thanks for letting me know what's been happening. You're in my prayers always.

  Love Elder Luening