October 14, 2013, Hamburg

Dear Family,

So, this week has flown by again. All I remember is that I was extremely tired and exhausted this week. We had a lot of meetings, lol. We had our Zone Training Meeting which was amazing! We taught a lesson about repentance and how we can apply that into our areas and missionary life. It was great, and I love the spirit one can feel at these types of meetings. We also had a Leadership Training Meeting the following day which was also good. One of the lessons given from Sister Kosak (Pres. Kosaks wife), was on stress and stress relief. Well, we all thought a lot about that lesson afterwards and got stressed out just thinking about it! It was a good time though.

We met twice this week with R., the lady who talked to us after General Conference, and invited her to baptism. She said she wants to learn more before she commits to something big like that. But she's aware of why we visit and that baptism is her goal!

     Our Chinese investigator, S., is leaving tomorrow for China. She came to Stake Conference and loved it. She's all set to go home with her Book of Mormon (which she loves), her Bible, and Gospel Principles book. She's really built her faith so much and knows that she has a Heavenly Father looking out for her. She's excited to keep learning and studying the scriptures and doctrines when she returns to China. The closest church to her home is about 10 hours away, so she'll need to keep studying and figure out what she's going to do in the future. She loves the things we've taught her and expressed her gratitude to us after church before she went home. She said she'll never forget meeting us and the things we've taught her. We made her really happy! It was really touching to hear and made us feel really grateful for the work here in Hamburg.  

     We also met a young man about 20 years old on the street and asked him what Christ meant to him. He stopped and pondered for a while and really dug within himself for an answer. He then said, 'I'm actually one of the few who has read the Bible all the way through, and I'm not really sure what Christ means to me. I guess you could say I'm one of those people who are on the search.' We bore our testimonies to him and introduced the Book of Mormon to him. We gave it to him and he was really touched that we would just give him this book for free. He expressed his appreciation to us and took the book and promised he'd read it. It was touching to see how this all impacted him and excited him to continue studying for truth.

   We had transfer calls and Elder McK. and I are staying another transfer together in Hamburg! We've just set some goals and made some plans of what we want to accomplish this transfer and how we'll do it. The Lord is working WITH us in His “Weingarten” (vineyard). (Jacob 5).

Love, Elder Lüning!