Dear Family,
Hey, so this was kind of a tough
week for me. Tough because of all the emotional highs and lows of being a
missionary, I guess. But one thing that I'm so thankful for is my ability to
shut my brain off when I go to bed, or whenever I need some peace! Such a good
gift and blessing from the Lord J!
V started drinking on Monday
again. He called me on Tuesday to cancel our appointment and then he told me
why. That hurt and shook me pretty good. I was on an exchange in Kiel at that
time. I decided we would go by on him anyway, with the purpose of uplifting him
and motivating him to stop again. Well, he's still drinking. He's back to the
same state of how he was when I first came to Kiel. He stayed strong for 5
months, and then fell back into the addiction. We visited him 3 times last week
and each time he said he would stop the next day, but he can't. Alcohol is such
a terrible addiction. He's a completely different person when he's drunk. (18-24
beers/day). It's bad and it's been tough to cope with because I do love him,
and I've built a strong friendship with him. I hope it's just a phase and that
he'll snap out of it again like he did the last time.
I found it pretty tough to keep a
clear mind and keep going on with the work after visiting him on Tuesday on the
exchange. I had the feeling we should go and visit a young member couple, V and
K. V just got out of the hospital because he had
surgery on the caves of his nose, so we hadn't seen him for a while. They were
happy to see us. We told them what happened and how we felt pretty down. We
asked them if we could serve them in anyway and K laughed and said, 'Not unless
you want to wash our dishes'. DONE! I replied, “You bet we do!” They had a lot of dishes stacked up because V
can't do much except for lying around and taking it really easy in case his nose
opens up and bleeds. K has been pretty busy and tired doing things and taking
care of V. We were so glad to wash all the dishes for them and they were so
thankful. It was such a small act of service but uplifted us a lot knowing we
helped them out. Definitely a blessing because I needed something like that.
On another note I'm really
excited that I am now transferred to Hamburg! I know it's going to be a great
experience, and hope that we'll get a lot of support from the Ward. This is a
huge blessing from the Lord, and I have the responsibility to do my best. I'm
glad He trusts me and that Pres. Kosak trusts me enough to assign me to work in
this area.
Mom,
Dad, thanks for your love and support. I'm glad you’re having fun up here in
Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein. Deutschland is beautiful, and you’re lucky to
be here during this “voll krass” (super)
weather! J Enjoy the rest of your time here!
Love you,
Elder Christopher Lüning
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