April 1, 2013, Kiel

Hey guys,

    Happy Easter and thanks for the email, Dad. I hope you all enjoyed your Easter weekend and your time in Kelowna. It sounded like it was great! I got your letters mom, ha-ha. Thanks for the halfway mark card. I'm over the hump! lol. Also the package came, but the man left it with a neighbour...who has been gone all weekend for Easter! So I still haven't got it, lol. Maybe tomorrow! Oh, and Sister LaRocque sent me a letter, please thank her for me!

   My week was pretty good! We have 3 really awesome investigators who are making very good progress. V is still holding strong and staying away from smoking and alcohol. He's building his faith every day and I can see the difference that it's making for him. His apartment is clean -  really clean - and the black circles around his eyes are almost all gone. He's taking care of himself and the Lord is helping him a lot! He is letting himself be helped by Him which is how he's staying strong. Christ's grace is playing a big role.

   DB (Johannes's Uncle), is also making progress. We went by to see him on Saturday to give him an Easter card and see how he was doing.  He's read almost the entire Book of Mormon already, (3 weeks) and has a lot of questions that he's preparing to ask us at our next appointment. So far we've only met with him once because he's been sick lately. He's about 56yrs old and has diabetes. He also had a present for us, haha! He bought us ties! So now I have a new tie, which is stain proof, very convenient!

   Then E, our Chinese investigator from back in January who went to China to visit his family, is back! We went to the student buildings to hand out fliers for English and German class and thought that we'd stop by and see if he was home. He was! But he was really sick, so we said that we could pray together and let him rest, but he's like, no no no, I want you to stay and talk with me and catch up! So we did J! He's doing great. He starts school next week again. We then read Alma 7:27:
"And may the peace of God rest upon you, and upon your houses and lands, and upon your flocks and herds, and all that you possess, your women and your children, according to your faith and good works, from this time forth and forever."

We tied it into faith and good works. He then stopped us and said that he was thinking a lot about baptism while he was in China. He talked to his friends about it. He talked to his mom about it, and he's decided that he wants to be baptized once he's healthy again! We were so excited and just talked to him for a little while about it with him. He really wants this because he knows it is right for him. We then gave him a blessing for health, strength, and comfort. We're really excited for him!

   The Lord is taking care of us and blessing us! We haven't been able to meet with S lately. We tried once last week but she wasn't home, and the other times that we did want to go by on her, something else got pushed in the way. But we hope to meet again this week with her. We did some doors around her area on the day she wasn't home and met a really nice lady. She talked to us for about 15 minutes in front of her door while it was freezing and windy outside J. She got to know us pretty well and loved my Canadian accent, lol! She said she didn't have much interest but said we could come back and ask her kids if they want to learn from us. One is 18 and the other one is 14. She said they're both starting to research a lot about religion and Christianity, so they might be interested. It was really cool! I hope we can get them active in some youth and YSA activities, that'd be way cool!

   Other than that, not too much has happened. On Wednesday, we had a multi- Zone Conference. Oldenburg zone, Hannover zone and Neumünster zone (my zone), were all together in Hamburg. I was able to catch up with Sister M from my first district, and with Elder B, and a few other missionaries that I know. It was really cool to hear stories from them and hear how they are doing in the mission. Thanks for all your support and love. I love you guys and hope you have a good week!

Love, Elder Luening