September 10, 2012, Hannover

Hello Luening Family!!

  I want to start off by saying thanks for the emails! I love hearing from you guys every P-day morning and the stories that you tell me! That bear story that you told me happening to Kassandra and Scott was hilarious mom, haha! It makes me miss Canada because there are absolutely no bears here in Germany. Well it’s not like at home where they just come into our yard, lol. Also I’m sorry that you’re having bear nightmares mom, but glad that you’re learning something from them, haha.

   Also I got your first package that you sent!!  We had a zone training meeting on Tuesday, and the Assistants to the Mission President (A.P.'s) came and brought packages! Thanks so much for all the goodies and everything that was in there! Oh and for the money too! I wasn't sure if I’d be able to write you before you sent the other package, but I guess you sent it already...haha yay, 2 packages in 2 weeks! I'll definitely be spoiled for my birthday!

   This past week has been interesting. It's felt like the longest week of my life. I'm not sure why because work wise, Elder W and I worked really hard. We had a lot of lessons and yet the week just felt really slow. But none the less we had a really good week. Like I said on Tuesday we had a Zone training meeting. It was really inspiring and I love them, because I always feel the spirit really strong whenever the other missionaries teach lessons. Also I was able to see Elder V (my last companion) again! We were able to catch up and have a good talk. He's doing well and he's happy to be in the same zone as me. I hope I stick around long enough to hear him give his “Tschüss” testimony. He's going home December 16th. That would be cool if I’m still in the same area.

   Elder W and I went by on 2 less active members this week. One of them is 32 years old and hasn't been to church since he was 17. The other one is married to a non-member and has 3 kids. His oldest child is 16. He served a mission in Peru when he was 23, and I think he's about 45 now. He was really happy that we came by and visited him, but he's not sure when he'll be able to come to church again. Both non active members wanted us to visit them again, so we're going to try to help them rebuild their testimonies and bring the gospel back into their lives.

  We also had a great lesson with the 17yr old girl L. She came to our appointment at the church, and we had a joint teach with us. She just laid all of her questions out in front of us, and we were like, wo! Haha!  It was a really good lesson. We talked a lot about a lot of different things, but we told her that when we teach her, we can't teach her everything at once. It’s going to be  “Schritt für Schritt. We bore powerful testimony to her and she broke down because she wants an answer right way and she wants to know everything and have everything make sense as soon as possible. She'll be leaving to live in Denmark for 1 year at the end of September. So we are going to try to teach her as much as possible before she leaves. If everything works out, she could be baptized the day before she leaves! We're going to be doing a lot of praying and fasting, and hope to be able to meet with her 3 times a week. She's also coming to institute, which is way awesome!

   Also J, the investigator I do MMA with, met with us inside the Church on Thursday. We taught him the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and it was a really good lesson. He finally opened up to us and let us know his deepest concern. He wants to learn about Joseph Smith, and find out for himself if he was really called a prophet or not. He said he's been searching for the truth his whole life, by experimenting with all types of different religions. He said he doesn't want to make the same mistake and jeopardize himself by making the same mistake again. He wants to find out if Joseph Smith was really a prophet or not. It was really cool, and a pretty powerful meeting with him. We're meeting again tomorrow, (Tuesday).

  We've been running into some interesting people while tracting. We talked with people who have been really open and wanting to learn, but not wanting to meet with us. We would set up appointments with them and then the next thing we know they don't show up, or they don't come. But, “na ja”, we're doing our best and the Lord is continuing to help us throughout our week. Elder Wightman and I have been writing down our miracles that we've seen throughout every day in our planners or on my calendar from Sister Y. As part of our daily planning, we review the day and write down the biggest blessing or the biggest miracle we saw in the day. It’s been helping us remember how much the Lord is actually blessing us here in Hannover. One big miracle that we saw on Saturday was in Bad Falling Bostal. We went by on our investigators and contacts that we had there, and none of them were home. So we did some tracting and went by on a referral that we received. It was a 30 minute walk, and on the way there, a Fijian man yelled to us while he was in his car. We went up to him, and he was so excited to see us. We asked him if he's a member, and he's like “yeah man i'm a member!” and showed us the back of his hand. He had LDS tattooed on it, haha! He's been in Germany for 9 years now. He said that he's here because he's in the military. He said he's never seen missionaries since he's been here, and he has no idea where the church is. It was definitely a blessing for him to find us and showed us that as long as we're where we're supposed to be, the Lord will help us bless other people.

  All in all this week has been cool. I love the mission, and these missionary experiences. I'm glad that my eyes are open so that I can see the many ways that the lord blesses us and other people. I know that if I wasn't here, I would miss these things. I know that as we continue to have faith in God, God will continue to work miracles in our lives.

  I'm still doing great, way out here in Germany, haha. I miss home sometimes, but there's no place in this world where I’d rather be than here on my mission. I love learning, and I love helping others. I miss you guys, and I hope that the Lord continually blesses you and protects you while I’m gone. You're always in my prayers.

Thanks so much for telling me about C. I can't believe that happened. I don't even know what to say right now, I'm in huge shock right now. He's one of my best friends! Please let me know what happened and how it happened, and I’ll be praying really hard for his family!

  I love you guys. Jeremy thanks for your email! I loved it haha, and it made me laugh. I'm glad you’re having missionary opportunities and that you've been going on joint teaches with the missionaries. They want to teach R, and I have no idea who they are, or what kind of missionaries they are. I've seen some missionaries that I would never trust teaching somebody that I loved and cared about. Surprise to me, not all missionaries are 'Missionaries'. You can tell a missionary is good, by his obedience and his love for the gospel. His actions and his spirit will speak louder than his words. Thanks for telling me that you like them and that you're enjoying going out with them.

I hope you guys have a good week and I can't wait to talk to you again!

Bis Nechste Woche! Love Elder Luening

Vocabulary: Tchuss = farewell    Schritt für Schritt – step by step       na ja = oh well

September 1, 2012, Hannover

Hey everyone,

   So last Monday, I don't know if you noticed or not, but I tried using my MC debit card. I tried it out buying a suite that I found for 52 Euros at Pre Mark. And it worked! So, it works for buying stuff but not at the ATM's when I try to take out money. It is good to know, though. So last Monday we just went to a bunch of stores here in Hannover and went shopping around. It was pretty fun.

  The weekend before we went to a “Tier Park” called Serengeti Park. You can look it up online if you want. It was way cool and we had a lot of fun! Elder W and I then spent time filling up our week with appointments so that we didn't have a white week.

  I've been doing MMA with an investigator, lol. His name is J and he's from Ghana in Africa. Every Tuesday we've been meeting with him for an hour and doing some MMA jujitsu. It's been helping us getting to know him better, and also helping me keep my skills. I hope it helps us when we teach him lessons, because if it doesn't, and he's not progressing and making commitments,  then we're not going to spend this time with him. He's way cool, but we gotta make sure we're not wasting our time doing it. I love it and it’s so much fun, but that's not why I’m out here.

  We met with an investigator that we found on a bench one night. Her name is L and her dad comes from South America. When we taught her about the Book of Mormon, and told her that it talks about the ancestors of the people from South America, she got goose bumps. She's excited to read and meet with us again.

  We met with a member that we never met before, Schwester S. She's about 87yrs old and so awesome. We went to her house and she apologized that she was too old to make us lunch. She then gave us 20 Euros and told us to go buy something for lunch today. She is such a nice lady. We went and bought Burger King for us and also for Elder H and Elder S. I then talked to her at church and told her what we bought with her money, and told her that we were all really thankful and loved it! She was so happy and I knew it meant a lot to her that I went and talked to her at church to say thanks. She's sweet! 

  One day we rode the “Strassenbahn” for 30 minutes to get to an appointment and then the lady said she was too busy. So we tracted the building she was in and found a lady who let us in to talk to her and teach. We are starting an English class and invited her to come to it. She's very interested and wants to meet with us again!  Her name is V. H.

  We had another awesome joint teach with Frau A. Brother P came with us again and we taught her the last part of the Plan of Salvation: judgement, resurrection, and Kingdoms of Glory. It was such a great and powerful lesson. I'm so impressed with Brother P. It is as if he is a resurrected being or that he's an angel! He speaks and testifies with so much power. He has this white glow about him, and this solid conviction in his voice that is so amazing. He's about 83 years old and he's perfect to bring along.

  Later we went to a member's house to give Schwester D a blessing. She asked me to give her one with oil, and it was so cool. It was definitely hard, and my German was horrible for it, but at least you could understand it and she was happy and thankful that we came over to give her one.

   On Saturday, we went by all the Fijians in Bad Fallingbostal, but none of them answered the door. Both our appointments with the German people we found there last week fell through. So we went door to door. We found a man from Africa. He's a soldier in the British military. He's 30 years old and he's married, and has a 1 year old daughter. He's born Muslim, and kind of believes in it. He says he's open to different religions and said that when he was in Australia he heard about Mormons, so he wanted to hear what we believe in. We sat in his house with him and taught him the first lesson. It was really cool! He said he wants us to come back whenever we're in the area, because he wants to learn what we have to say. It was sweet!

  On Sunday, there was an 18yr old girl that we met the week before, who came to church because she heard about it on the internet. She watched some of the Mormon videos on the website, and wanted to learn. Last week she told us that she was going to Denmark so we didn't expect to see her again. But she was at church again today, and said she wanted to meet with Elder W and I so that we can teach her. She came to all the classes and said that she shed a few tears during Fast and Testimony meeting. She said she felt the spirit, and that she's excited to learn more. She's so prepared and it was a miracle that Elder W and I were able to experience. Her name is L. 

    After church we went to meet with our Chinese investigator X. We finally taught him the first lesson. It was so hard, because we had to explain to him what a prophet was, and a bunch of other things that he didn't understand.  He's still really new to the Bible and everything, so our lesson was really long. We felt bad once we left because we were there for an hour and a half.  He's way cool, and he loves the pamphlets that we're leaving with him, which helps him a lot. He's able to study them and learn more throughout the week when we're gone. He's always so excited to meet with us.

    One other thing that was really cool at Church today was seeing the confirmation of both D, and A. It was so cool, hearing Elder H and Elder S using their Priesthood authority and commanding them in the blessing to receive the Holy Ghost. It was definitely a highlight, lol.

  There are some things that I learned this week, and one is that planning is very important. And that when we testify with conviction, and are straight forward, people respect you more and can feel the spirit through you. It's easy in lessons, to talk around something because you don't want to offend the other person about their beliefs. But it’s better to testify of what you know is true and how you found out, and how they can find out too. And then don't take it back. Also Elder W and I are really open with each other. So when we have a disagreement with something, we let each other know, haha. It is good for solving problems or issues.  We always come to a conclusion, which is way good.

   Mom, I'm glad that you decided not to work for N F. That would have been bad, especially if everything was telling you not to. It's a pretty big sign from the spirit when you keep having unsure thoughts about it, lol. Dollarama was a better choice. I miss S; let her know that I’m always thinking of her and that I miss her!

    I'm glad everyone is doing well! Dad I’m excited that you get to start seminary soon, and that you're totally excited about it. Those youth are going to learn a lot from you. Jeremy, really pay attention to this year of seminary. Learning the New Testament, and everything that Christ and his apostles taught, is going to help you so much on your mission because that is the Book, that people who don't know about the Book of Mormon, use. You can learn a lot from it and know what the Savior taught his people. I love you all and keep you in my prayers.

   I love serving here in Hannover. The Mission President wants me to train in a transfer or two. So next transfer I could be a trainer. I'm prepping for that and hope to bring someone into the gospel this transfer. We're working really hard, and the Lord's blessing us with opportunities. We're learning from every single opportunity we get.

   Talk to you guys next week!

   Love you!

vocabulary
Tier Park = Zoo                   Strassenbahn = tram                  Schwester=sister

August 27, 2012, Hannover

Dear Lüning Family!

I'm doing well and I’m completely healthy! A little sore but that's just from playing sports and wrestling the elders on our hardwood floor, haha. The baptism was really nice this Sunday! The spirit was really strong, and the mother and her daughter had a wonderful experience. They were so excited and so happy afterwards! They are completely German, and have really strong faith in Jesus Christ which will just continue to grow. It was a really cool experience for Elder S and Elder H. They had met them just outside of the Church one day and asked them if they wanted a tour. And now they're baptized and will receive the Holy Ghost next Sunday.

   We weren't able to meet with any Fijians this week but we did meet 2 new German people from the same area who have a lot of interest! Especially one guy - he said he's been searching for a long time to find out if there is a God or not. He said he's gone through experiences that have led him away from believing in it, but also said that he's found things in the Bible that have helped him get through trials in his life. I'm excited to meet with him again. Elder W and I have seen some pretty cool miracles this week. Yesterday we taught X (Chinese student) and we taught him the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He loved it, and understood it. We both felt prompted to invite him to baptism, so I asked him. He said he wants to be baptized. But when we set a date for him in October, he was “skeptish” and said it was too soon. He said that all this stuff is still really new for him and he can't set a date yet. He said he would think of a date and work towards it. The spirit in that lesson was really strong. I asked him if he feels that we're helping him learn about God and helping his progress in getting an answer. He said that we are helping him so much, and that he loves meeting with us. We're excited to keep meeting with him. He's such a nice guy and really wants to find out if God is there. He prays, he reads the scriptures, and he reads and highlights stuff in the Chinese pamphlets that we give him. One thing that he highlighted was a part that said that before he was on the earth he chose to come here. He highlighted it because he thought that it was cool that he knew God before this life and that he chose to be part of Gods plan, even if he can't remember any of it. We're excited to keep teaching him.

Oh yeah, we had transfer calls on Saturday. Our district is staying the same! No change in our district yet. And Elder V (former companion in Forst) is coming to serve in the Hannover Zone, so I might be able to see him on some P-days and at zone conference. I was able to talk to him on the phone, and he's really excited to come and see me again, and serve in a new area!

We also had a really powerful joint teach with a lady called Frau A. We brought a member named Brother P with us and it was really good. We talked about the earth life and the atonement. He did a really good job of bearing testimony and keeping her on track (since she likes to talk a lot about different things). He's about 75 years old and when he speaks it seems like there is light glowing around him like Abinadi, haha.

Also we got a phone call from one of our progressing investigators (G) and she called us to let us know that she doesn't want to meet with us anymore. We were currently at a dinner appointment at a member’s house. Elder W started praying in his heart, and just listened and talked to her. He was able to help her see what our purpose as missionaries were and what we're helping her see. She said she'd like to see us again, but not for at least 2 weeks. She is such a nice lady. She gives us cake and juice every time we meet with her. Our last lesson with her was really good too and I think it scared her a little. But we're going to pray and wait, and see what happens!

 This week seemed to fly by, and things all seem to be a blur. I've been keeping my journal and have loved looking back at times I had in Forst. My Hannover experience has been quite different, in a personal way. I've learned new things that I need to work on myself and things that I need to start doing to become a better person. It's amazing how new companions and new experiences can make you realize what kind of buttons you actually have, haha. Elder W knows how to push my buttons haha, and half the time I don't even think he means too. I love him, he's a good missionary, and we're working hard. We're excited to see some success here this transfer. We're going to be working really hard to bring someone unto Christ, and enter into the covenant of baptism. I'm excited. 

The Book of Mormon reading in German has been going well. I'm almost done with Alma, and I need to read up to Mosiah before General Conference. I hope I make it. I love the Book of Mormon. Dad, you said you're teaching the New Testament this year. That's way cool. I've been reading the New Testament a lot to learn more about Christ and the things he's taught. I love it; I love being out here and learning all the things I am. It's really hard sometimes, but time keeps moving forward, and I learn lots from the hard times.

  Unless you sent the package to my Hannover address I won't get it for a couple weeks, lol. We have President interviews about the last 2 weeks of the transfer, so probably in about 4 weeks. And that’s when I’ll get the package. Thanks for sending me stuff! I'm really excited to get it. My mouth guard should be in that bag or in the water bottle pouch thing attached to the bag, it's blue and white...the one that Brother Wight made for me. It’s in a blue case, and if it’s not there then it's in my closet on a shelf.....or somewhere lost in my room haha. 

Mom, that’s quite the pickle that you're in with work, haha. Have fun making that decision. I was surprised that you want to work again...and good that you got your hip fixed because of it, haha.

I'll try my bank card today. I know it didn't work with the ATM's but I’ll try to buy something with it today, and if it doesn't work then I’ll let you know next week. I never tried to take out more than €50. We'll see what happens.

  Jeremy good job on keeping busy with work, you'll learn a lot from it, especially for your mission. There's a lot of things that are part of my character now, because of work. I look at some Elders who didn't work much in their life and can see the difference between those who have. You'll be an awesome missionary!

Charlene sent me a huge letter last week, i loved it! Let her know that there's better guys out there haha. Joking, but Charlene, you are doing wonders in your new calling. All callings come from God, and you got it because you deserve it. You've been working hard and the Lord knows he can use you! Kass thanks for the emails! It sounds like you are keeping busy, haha. Keep up the good work and keep being an example to your class mates!! Scott happy birthday! Sounds like you’re going crazy with work! Hope you’re taking care of my sister, haha, and keep being yourself! Well family, I’ll hear from you next week and you're in my prayers. Have fun at the Labor Day picnic! Thanks for the emails, mom and dad.

Love you all, Elder Lüning.

Vocabulary:   skeptisch = sceptical

August 20.2012, Hannover

Hello Family!!! 

I was happy to hear from everyone! Unfortunately I don't have too much time to write you this week but I’ll tell you what has been happening.

So Elder H and Elder S have 2 people getting baptized this week on Sunday. A mom in her 30's and her 9 year old daughter! It's super exciting and they are all really excited about it! On Wednesday we had a Zone Conference and we were able to have an open testimony meeting at the end of it. It was so powerful and so spiritual as all the missionaries who wanted to bear their testimonies got up and bore them! I went up too and the whole meeting was in English. It was so powerful and such a huge boost. 

Thursday we had a lesson with J. He's from Africa and he's experimented with all sorts of different religions and he's stuck to finding his own belief from the Bible. He says he's Christian, but he believes in the trinity still. He's got some interesting beliefs. He's 29 years old and he does street fighting and MMA, too, haha. I have permission to wrestle or do some jujitsu with him, from President Kosak.

 We learned a lot from President Kosak the last time we met with him. It has caused us to study our scriptures a lot and gain a better understanding of the gospel so that we can answer questions. As I've studied for investigators and wrote down questions they've asked, I've been gaining so much personal revelation this week. It’s been so cool, and I find myself sometimes just getting lost in them. 

We taught a lady named G, and brought a joint teach with us. It was a really good lesson. We taught her about faith. We had a lesson plan prepared, and the spirit was really strong throughout the lesson. I learned a lot personally throughout that lesson too; that the strongest increase in faith occurs when you gain knowledge of keeping a principal you find from the scriptures - like having a testimony of prayer. You experiment, and then when you receive an answer you know it works. But you need to have faith to believe that it will always work- like flicking a light switch. You know the light will turn on, and when you do it you have faith it will turn on. The light bulb might be burnt out and the light won't turn on. But none the less you know the principle works, and you do it with faith so it will work, regardless if the light turns on or not. I don't know if that made sense at all but that's what I thought of and it makes sense in my head, lol. 

We skipped rugby this week because I was feeling a bit sick. We went to an Auslander Heim and met 3 more people from Africa. We taught 4 people from Fiji on Saturday in Bad Ballingbostal. There is a military base there and 4 Fijians were sitting outside and they invited us to sit with them. We taught all of them the first lesson and gave one of them a Book of Mormon in Fijian. It was really cool! 

A lot of our investigators have been wondering about the pre-mortal life. I did a lot of searching and study on that subject and I’ve found so many answers to personal questions and to answers for investigators. I love it when you write down a question, search the scriptures until you find an answer, and the spirit helps everything make sense! One of my questions was:  If Lucifer was part of God's plan, then why did He make that plan in the first place. God loves all of His children, and if He knew that Satan would rebel because of the plan, why would he present it and 'sacrifice losing Lucifer?  The answers I found to this were way cool. I thought about it a lot, and the spirit helped me understand it a lot too. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else right now than here in Hannover. I love it.

As for what I want in my package?? Maybe dill pickle Spitz, my mouth guard (since I’m allowed to wrestle and play rugby...I don't want to lose my teeth!), umm Cheeto's and definitely popcorn (Germans are not big on popcorn, and when they have it...it’s expensive!) maybe some ties?? or money. My bank card doesn't work. I don't think I told you that...but my Master Card debit doesn't work. So I’ll either have to call the bank and get it activated or reactivated, or you'll just have to send me money by mail once in a while.

Anyways, I love you guys, and my letter will be more exciting next week! I didn't have time this week to write lots. 

Love Elder Luening

PS. We're going to ask a couple investigators to set baptismal dates this week...pray for us!!

Vocabulary

Auslander: immigrant

August 13, 2012, Hannover

Hallo Luening Family!

   First of all, Happy Birthday dad!! I'm sorry that you didn't get to sleep in and have a nice breakfast served to you on your birthday, but yeah, I guess the temple would be an amazing second place to be on your birthday!! I must have skipped a year somewhere because I thought you were 47 now and mom was 49...but 46 and 48 is good, haha! And mom I hope that you're recovery continues to get better...next time maybe don't be so competitive, haha. Nah, I guess that's impossible, it kind of runs in the family. Sorry things didn't work out with your job Jeremy. Thanks a bunch for the letter that you wrote me last week. It meant a lot and it made me laugh! I miss you guys.

   This week has been an awesome week. I learned a lot of things about myself, about Jesus Christ, and about the Gospel that I never knew before. Or maybe that I just didn't understand before. I am absolutely getting sucked into my scriptures and loving it. People are asking me questions throughout lessons and they make me really think. So I write them down and for my personal study, or at 9:30 PM I research the scriptures about the questions. I love it. The gospel makes so much sense and it's really helping me find out who Jesus Christ, our Savior, really is, and who God our Almighty Father is. I love the missionary work here in Hannover. We still don't have as many progressing investigators as we would like to, but we do have a couple. One big thing is that our planning has been getting a lot better so we're not wasting time when appointments fall through. We have back up plans. Sometimes it’s hard to plan because there are 4 of us just getting home at 9:00 PM and all we want to do is talk about how our day was, but we made it a rule that we can’t talk to each other until our daily planning is finished!

   Oh and I got left on a “Straßenbahn” again this week, haha.

   We got invited to a less active member’s home for dinner. We studied on Family Home Evening and I really learned the importance of it by looking back at all the times we had Family Home Evening. The gospel really does strengthen the family, and when we take this 1 evening out of our busy lives to come together as a family, it makes a difference. We taught them about it and challenged them to start doing it.

   I went to Hildesheim on” Tausch” with little Elder M from my MTC zone. It was fun. We road our bikes in the rain and got soaked but the investigators made us change out of our clothes so they could throw them in the drier, haha, It was weird, but nice leaving with dry clothes.

   I seem to be doing quite good with the language too. I can understand most people and I can hold up conversations without anyone’s help. But man, there are so many words and phrases that I still don't know, and seem to confuse me sometimes. But I’m learning. We're speaking German from 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM, which has helped a lot!

Elder W and I had Rugby training on Thursday, haha! We asked president if we could participate in training with a team to see if we could try to do some missionary work through it. Elder W played 3 years of rugby at home. About a month ago we knocked on a guy’s door. He was not interested, but was wearing a rugby shirt. He told us he was a trainer and that there is a U18 team that practices every Tuesday and Thursday. So we got permission and went to practice. We were so sore for the rest of the week, but we're going to go one more time, and if no opportunity to share the gospel comes from it then we're going to stop.

  We've had a pretty successful week. We had 2 investigators come to church on Sunday and they loved it. We also met 3 people from Fiji who let us come in and visit with them. Also we taught our Chinese friend from last Sunday. His name is X. It's weird to pronounce but he's totally cool. We went over the Plan of Salvation with him. He said he's learned this in his Bible class and also that he's searching to find God and that he wants to see us again next week. We’re excited.

  We met a black man from Kenya. He's a Christian and he's 33yrs old. He knows the bible inside and out and says he loves the Old Testament more than the new one because that’s where he found out who God and Jesus Christ really were. He let us into his house right away and began testing us and asking us questions about what we were doing and what we knew about Christ and God. It made me really think and listen to the spirit. We taught him about the Book of Mormon and by the time we left he wanted one He said that he would read it and find out for himself it was true or not. He then prayed for us when we left, and his prayer was so powerful. I loved meeting with him because you could really see how much he loved the Lord and how much it had influenced his life. He's really smart and has a huge testimony of the atonement. He grew a lot of respect for us because of how young we were but of how much Truth we understood and taught. The spirit was really strong as all three of us bore testimony, and ended with a prayer. It was way cool, and made me feel so good.

  Also a miracle happened on Saturday. We were all the way on the other side of a village that we visited and we needed to catch the train in 10 minutes. It would have taken 15 minutes running! But we ran and we said a prayer in our hearts.  After 5 minutes of running as fast as we could, a car pulled over and picked us up! He drove us to the “Bahnhof” and we made it in time for the train. It was 8pm and it’s an hour long train ride. Also the trains come every hour. So if we would have missed it, it would have been 10:30 PM before we would have been in our apartment. We were so thankful and felt so blessed that the Lord provided someone for us to catch the train on time, because we were exhausted!

  Anyways, yeah, so that has been my week. I've been losing myself in the work and in my studies. Elder W and I are doing well and we're working hard. My testimony has definitely been strengthened so much. Every time people question us I really do research and find out why things are the way they are. The scriptures are awesome. Also I’ve been challenged by President Kosak to finish the Book of Mormon “auf Deutch” before General Conference and I’ve been flying through it. I understand it too, and it's been helping me a lot.
 

 I hope you guys take care and keep enjoying the summer. I love you all and I miss you! oh mom you asked what I would like in a package...maybe some spitz because the ones here aren't very good, lol. Send my mouth guard and my boxing gloves, haha! Joking! We have an African investigator who does MMA. He wants to spar with me sometime, haha, but I told him I won't spar. But that we could show each other a little Jujitsu.

Hope you guys have a good week. “Bis” next week!

Love, Elder Lüning.

   Vocabulary:   Strassenbahn = tram        Tausch = companion exchange         bis = until

     

August 6, 2012, Hannover

Dear Family,

 Thanks for the email that you sent me! I'm sorry that I can't write all of you back most of the time, but I love hearing from you. You probably all know what I’m up to because mom posts my email, lol.

 I'm glad camp was good mom, and that the weather has turned around for the better !

My week has been interesting. So, something funny that I forgot to write you last week was that Elder W and I went to the “Bahnhof” (German vocabulary at end of letter) to take a “Zug” to a “Dorf” outside of Hannover to eat at a member's house. We went on the train and Elder W was talking to the Zone leaders and thought he was on the wrong train, so he got out. When I tried to follow, the doors closed and wouldn't let me open them. Then the train took off with me inside it and I laughed and waved goodbye to my companion, haha. I “steigt aus” at the next stop and waited for 7 minutes for the next train to get back to the “Bahnhof”. I didn't have a phone so I just sat and waited. I got back to the “Bahnhof” and found Elder W waiting for me. It was really funny. It was weird though being alone for the 20 minutes that I was, but I’m all okay and I don't expect it to happen again, lol.

This week we had an investigator lesson with a guy named N. He's from Iran and he has about 50 homing pigeons. Apparently he breeds them and sells them or gives them away for gifts. They are real cool; they fly so high that you can barely see them and sometimes, while they are flying, they will just play dead and barrel roll down towards the ground, and then flap their wings again. They do black flips, too, to show off, haha.

 So,  Elder W and I are speaking German from 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM every day, so it has been helping me improve my German. We also split up one night to try to find one new investigator before coming in. I was able to teach this awesome lady. I walked up to her and asked her if she believes in God. She was surprised but smiled and said yes. I then asked her how she came to believe in God because not to many people believe in Him. We started talking about the family and how God blesses and strengthens the family. Then she asked me if I wanted to sit down and talk for a while with her. It was awesome. We talked for about 10 minutes getting to know each other. Her name is S and she has 2 daughters between the age of 20 and 25. Elder W came by and sat down with us and we were able to have a really powerful lesson with her about life and the Book of Mormon. She didn't come to church this week but I called her before church and she said she had a head ache but would love to come next Sunday. So we'll see what happens. She is a really nice lady and really down to earth. She asked really good questions and I hope we'll be able to teach her again. Before we left she said that the first thing she thought when I went up to her was that I was a cop. She thought that because she had just J-walked and a couple months ago she did the same thing and had to pay 10 Euros. She smiled right when I asked her the question because her first thought was: “No way, I thought I was getting a ticket, and instead God sends me a messenger”! We laughed about it and then left for the night. It was cool.

   We had President interviews which was cool. President Kosak is a really good man and his wife is awesome. I've been able to talk with everyone I see and understand everything they are saying and never seem to wonder how to say anything back. Everything just seems to flow out of my mouth now and it feels like sometimes I just forget myself and just teach people. In the past, sometimes I would be hesitant about talking with someone, but lately I’ve been locked in and ready to find people who are ready and people who will listen, which means talking with everyone. Most of the people, even though they don't have interest, will say that they respect us for what we are doing and wish us success.

  Yesterday was Fast Sunday and afterwards we were able to teach 5 solid lessons before we got back home. In each one of those lessons we were able to feel the spirit bear testimony through us! It was really cool! We taught a Chinese girl, a Muslim who's a student,  (who we're not allowed to teach anymore because we need Presidents permission first), a guy from Africa, a member from Africa who had an Africa  friend with her, and an American Family! We got home at about 10 pm because our last appointment was at 9 pm. It was way cool and awesome that it was on Fast Sunday. Definitely a blessing and I hope that everyone we taught will come to church next Sunday.

 I love being a missionary. I feel the spirit every time I testify to people. It sucks when people won't give you a chance to share your message, or when appointments don't follow through because they don't understand how important our message is. But we're keeping our heads up and I’m losing myself in the work. Also President Kosak challenged me to read the Book of Mormon “auf Deutch” before General Conference in October. So I’ve been reading it every chance I get. When we’re on the “Bahn”  I pull it out and read. I love it and I understand it too. I love the scriptures. Something cool that I found was in D&C 29:36  “And it came to pass that Adam, being tempted of the ^adevil—for, behold, the ^bdevil was before Adam, for he ^crebelled against me, saying, Give me thine ^dhonor, which is my ^epower; and also a ^fthird part of the ^ghosts of heaven turned he away from me because of their ^hagency;”
I love that God says that His power comes from his Honor. Everything that God promises and everything that he does, he does because he needs to be honorable in all things. If he would stop being honorable and make a mistake, all his power would be gone and he would cease to be God. God walks on a very strict and straight line. That's why the atonement is so amazing. Christ pleads for our case, and compassion breaks the bands of justice. I read some of this in a talk that I'll send to you this week.

 I'm sending a SD memory card to you. To get the stuff off of it, just put it in your camera and hook it up to your computer. Then open the folder and you can take all the pictures off and there will be a 'Talk' on there too called 'The Atonement'. Should be pretty easy to do and you'll love the talk and the pictures!

Anyways, I love you and can't wait to hear from you next week! R said she went on a road trip with her family; that’s cool that you made jam with her. Maybe invite her to do it again if you need help. Oh, and the Facebook message from C, you could actually just copy it and email it to me and I could print it off here next Monday, unless you want to mail it.

I love you all!

Love, Elder Lüning.

Bahnhof = Train or subway station

Zug = train

Dorf = village

Auf deutch = in German

Aussteigen = step out, exit

Jul 30, 2012, Hannover

Dear Family,

Hey, yeah, totally give Chris my email address; that would be good!! Wow, sounds like you guys had an intense week! Well, before I start replying to your message let me write you about my week so far...

So this week has been crazy hard for Elder W and me. We had so many investigator lessons and appointments planned out for the week, and they all fell through. We didn't get a chance to teach a single investigator, and actually one of them Tschüssed (good-bye, don’t want you to come by any more) us. So, yeah, that was so dumb. We had so much blank time in our planners and we had no idea what to do with it. We tried to stop by on members, but all the ones we visited weren't home or had moved. So, since we were there we tracted the doors in the area but with not too much luck. We were able to set up a few new appointments but they seemed kind of sketchy. We basically door approached blocks every single day, and talked to everyone we could. We would set new appointments but weren't able to teach too many lessons. Elder W got so frustrated on Friday because he said he didn't get it. Why would the Lord bless us with so many golden appointments and then have them all fall through. He's like yeah, it’s the agency of the person but why wouldn't we even get 1 chance to teach them again. We went back to the apartment and prayed and tried to plan something for the day. Even while we were doing doors a couple times this week we had to stop and sit down somewhere so we could pray for strength to push through the day.

   It seemed like a very long week, haha, and it reminded me of “The District 2”. The zone leaders in our apartment have 3 people on baptismal dates right now, and we're struggling to get things built up and find people to teach. I seem to stay pretty patient through the whole thing though because this is exactly what I saw in Forst. I'm just not a big fan of doing doors for 2 1/2hrs every day, lol. But it is what it is, and I love my personal study and being able to apply what I learn throughout the day.

  I love talking with people here in Hannover. Usually everyone listens to you and you can get into some really good conversations. The weather has been really warm too, I think on Wednesday it was 30 Celsius. I've been loving being able to feel some warmth on my face. Right now its Rahmadan for Muslims, so whenever we talk to someone who looks like they’re from the middle east they say they can't talk to us because their fasting for a month 4:30am to 9:30pm. Also we're not allowed to teach Muslims anymore if their planning on going back because in some places they put Muslims who are baptized Christians to death.

  Last Monday we went to a concentration camp. It's called Bergen-Belsen Memorial. It was pretty depressing being there and seeing all the things that happened in the camps. Not something I think I want to do again while I’m out here but definitely something I was glad that I did. We went there as a big group: 4 Sister missionaries and 6 Elders altogether. It was a lot of fun seeing everyone and being able to enjoy the P-day together.

On the way back we took a bus and a lady sitting in on the seat next to me talked to me about the weather and then what I’m doing. I was able to teach her about what we did and got her info from her so that the sister missionaries in Cela could teach her. It was my first time making an appointment on the bus, haha. She was really interested though; it was cool. The German here is so much easier to understand. Elder W and I are speaking 9am-9pm German every day except P-day. It has been helping me out so much. I've made flash cards and every time that we are on a train or a subway train I run through my words and try to use them throughout the day. It’s been helping me learn a lot faster.

 The members here are awesome. Oooh! That reminds me; I had lunch with a family yesterday on Sunday. Their names are the M's. It was Brother Stephen M and his girlfriend and his mother Antje M. He's active in the church again here and is planning on marrying his girlfriend in the temple. She got baptised almost a year ago, but is waiting for her current husband to sign the divorce papers so that she can marry Stephen. They've been dating for almost 3 or 4 years now. Antje M said that her husband, Gunter M passed away 2 years ago. She said that she knows Dad and his family really well. Stephen was best friends with Uncle Jan and that his dad and Opa worked together building a garden house once. Also Antje said that she taught dad in seminary or something. Haha, they thought it was so cool that I'm serving in Hannover and that they got to meet me! Apparently Antje M is really good friends with Oma and Opa. They couldn't believe that I belonged to that family and they kept saying over and over 'what a small world' haha it was totally “wahnsinnig” (crazy)!

  Anyways the last couple days we've been going to the student Wohnheims (residence halls). We were able to teach two people from China. They didn't know anything about God or Jesus Christ. So we basically taught them from scratch and we had to simplify everything down to its easiest form. It was tricky but a huge learning experience. They didn't know anything from the bible, only that they've seen pictures of Jesus before but don't know anything about it.

  We're hoping that this week goes a lot better and that we'll see more success this week. I'm going to send you my memory card so that you can load the pictures I’ve been taking onto the computer and then you can mail it back to me. I have 3 other memory cards I can use in the meantime.

I'm doing well and I'm having fun here in Hannover. I've learned a lot of patience and Elder W and I get along great. We support each other and have fun when we're working, he's a good Elder and he works hard. About 2 or 3 times a night we end up having wrestling matches in our apartment, haha. It’s hilarious and we all have fun together so it gets all our stress out once our day is over.

  Anyways thanks for the email and keeping me up to date with everything! I hope you guys keep enjoying your summer. I don't have much time to email anymore and this week wasn’t too incredibly exciting, so I hope next week is a bit better haha. But my head is up and the work goes on. Let everyone know I’m thinking of them and that they are in my prayers!

   Love Elder Lüning