This is in front of the cool fortress thing right next to Blessing's houseFirst, some good news. We had a crazy awesome Sunday! Blessing's fiancé Innocent got back on Friday, and we just started teaching him! Now we are teaching the whole family, and as soon as Blessing and Innocent get married, Blessing can get baptized! Blessing, Innocent, and their two little daughters were all there on Sunday! Then there was Sebastian and Christian. Sebastian we had street contacted weeks ago. Christian we had never met before. The two of them just showed up a few minutes into sacrament meeting! When you are serving in a branch and have four investigators in sacrament meeting and they all stay for all three hours and participate, it makes a big impact! The branch was really excited about it and I think it got everyone thinking about missionary work. Our investigators asked lots of questions in the classes and the branch members were great about answering them. It was just a fantastic Sunday! The member in the photos with us is Balázs, he is from Hungary and is super awesome. He helps us out a lot.In other news, Nina is on the brink of dropping us, which makes me really, really, really sad. We haven't been able to meet with her since November. I know that my sadness is a good sign though, because it comes from the love that I have for her and the friendship that we have. Preach My Gospel says that sometimes you will have the sad experiences as a missionary where people receive a spiritual witness that what we say is true and choose not to act on it. I was talking to Elder Hyatt at Zone Conference, and that was the case with so many of our investigators in Wuppertal! But we do not get discouraged. We are disappointed, but not discouraged. We still know that what we say is true! This shopping cart eventually tipped, and somehow I hit the ground running and didn't faceplant. found a great quote from my ancestor Heber C. Kimball that I wanted to share with you: Suppose you should all turn away from [the] faith. What has that to do with me? Suppose you should all act like devils. What is that to me? What has that to do with my religion? I am to serve God and keep his commandments perfectly independent, that is from the acts of any other person in God’s world. I love the boldness of that quote and the principle behind it. I have seen miracles on my mission, and I have seen people not act on them. As for myself, I will choose to act on them, regardless of what anyone else chooses! It's a great feeling! Well, that concludes my email for this week. If you are reading this, I appreciate you and so does God. Send me an update on how you are doing! Have a wonderful week! Elder Chase Kimball Germany Frankfurt Mission The food we took from the Aiken's apartment. The Aikens were the senior couple serving in our branch, but they had to head home because he was having knee problems. We just found out they are not coming back, which is really sad.Shot of the front of the Church, with my lovely MitarbeiterYesterday we met with Merhan, who is from Iran. There's a big language barrier and we aren't allowed to baptize him, but President Boyer told us we can teach him. So you bet we are. He's hilarious too. We showed him the Good Samaritan video (no words, so no language barrier) and asked him if he helps people. He said he helps people he knows, but for other people he has "keine Lust" (basically he has no desire or he can't be bothered to). We tried to explain to him that Jesus taught us to help everyone, even strangers. I think we were able to get it across. We also helped him find a bus plan that will get him to church on time. We also set up an appointment to skype with someone who speaks fluent Persian who can translate for Mehran. Elder Yorgason and I will almost definitely not be able to baptize Mehran unless something crazy happens, but someday Mehran will be legal in some country and then he's toast. Baptized! (Nacho Libre quote) Tower near our church buildingWe have a pretty good system going, I feel like. We call people up, meet with them at Hauptbahnhof (main train station), and walk around with them and talk about their interest level. It isn't a good teaching environment, but if they are committed enough after the first meeting we can set up an appointment at the church or at their home. We eliminate a lot of variables that way, because if we meet them at their home the first time and they don't show up or we can't find their house, then we have gone all the way out to Whateversdorf and we have to get back to Regensburg for another appointment later. This is especially important with our huge area here in Regensburg. When we have our potential investigators all meet us at the church building or at the Hauptbahnhof, we don't have to go through the type of wild goose chases that I experienced back in Wuppertal. We can just stay in the church or the Bahnhof and if they come, they come. We don't need to go chasing after them. My spherical haircut that I got from another Turkish placeThat being said, we have met with a lot of refugees lately, and it has made me think a lot. I have realized that I really, really want to teach some more Germans. And that has made me realize the love that I have developed for the German people. Of course I love all people. We will baptize whoever is ready. If the Germans aren't ready for the gospel, then we will baptize the foreigners. But I don't think that God would send me here if the people weren't ready. I'm not willing to give up on baptizing people who are stable here, who know the language, and who will be a strength to the branch. I have faith that God will send us more people like Frau Augustin who have been humbled. I will be just as happy to baptize anyone who isn't from Germany as I will be to baptize someone who is. I'm only saying that I do love the Germans, and I'm not giving up on them! Chaste card!Quick little spiritual thought. I have been thinking about the Law of Chastity lately, because of a talk by Brad Wilcox that Elder Yorgason had me listen to and because we teach it to investigators. I read the story of Joseph and Potiphar's wife the other day, and I found it interesting. 7 ¶ And it came to pass after these things, that his master’s wife cast her eyes upon Joseph; and she said, Lie with me. 8 But he refused, and said unto his master’s wife, Behold, my master wotteth not what is with me in the house, and he hath committed all that he hath to my hand; 9 There is none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee, because thou art his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God? First of all, I would be pretty scared if someone cast their eyes upon me. That just sounds so aggressive, you know? But I do find it interesting what Joseph says at the end. There are a lot of reasons to live a chaste life. The most important one, is that God has commanded us to and we can have His Spirit with us when we do. My seminary teacher Brother Clegg gave us all "Chaste Cards" and I keep mine in my wallet. Looking at it always makes me happy. We can be glad that we live chaste lives and that we avoid so many problems that come with sexual impurity, and that we are pleasing God. Repentance is always there for those who have sinned, and there is always the chance to live this happy life. I love you all! Thank you for reading! Tell your non-member friend about the church, and if you don't have any, then practice on your dog! A shot of our church. It's actually part of a complex of buildings. The Church renovated this building, and now they are renting it. It's useful because people can find it easily. Elder Kimball
Germany Frankfurt Mission 93053 Regensburg Prinz-Rupprecht-Straße 34 Alma 34:32 In front of the famous bridge in Regensburg!So here is a little story from last week. We got home and there was something on the bottom of the shoe. It smelled really bad. Then Elder Yorgason pointed out that there were feathers and even a peace of a beak stuck on there. So it turns out I had stepped in a bird, either an already dead one or one that was alive before I stepped on it. So I scraped the dead bird and probably some dog poo off of my shoe. I left it outside for the night because I didn't want it to stink up the apartment. Well, we went back outside the next day to pick it up and what do you know, it was gone. I have no idea where it went. We even tried checking the donation bin. Someone probably saw it and thought it was garbage. But it's alright, we found a nice sale today. I got some new shoes for a great deal. In our apartment in front of the Christmas trees from my family and from my family's new ward! They're so nice!Our investigator Blessing comitted to be baptized on February 17! She is amazing. She has two little daughters who she brings to church every Sunday. In our Gospel Principles class on Sunday we had a visitor. The visitor expressed her dissatisfaction about her church and how she didn't feel perfect, so she didn't feel like she could take the sacrament. Then Blessing, who has told us she is having a hard time herself, told the visitor the story of how she met us, and how she understands how she feels. But then Blessing said, "But sister, you can't give up!" The Spirit was so strong in that moment. I think that is a sign of real conversion, that she is reaching out to others. On the bus home from church, Blessing asked us how a member was doing who hadn't been to church in a while. She's not a member yet and she's already thinking about the members and how they are doing! If you look closely, you will notice that I am holding a swordThings are picking back up slowly. Contrary to what I would have hoped, our investigators Vito, Nina, and Mehran all sort of dropped off around Christmas time. Doing missionary work was hard around that time. Lots of people went on trips, and some people were too busy, and others were apalled that we would disturb their Silvester (New Year's) celebration. But things are picking up now. We have some solid appointments set up for next week. Love you all! Thank you for reading! P-day in Regensburg |