Weinachtsmarkt!I have had a hilarious time this past week with Elder Yorgason. Also the work is going super well. We had five investigators at church on Sunday, which is more than I have ever had on my mission. And Nina came! This was her second time coming, and it was a big deal because so many investigators only come once. Nina reminds me so much of Frau A. from Wuppertal. And Frau Augustin only ever came to church once. So it was so great to see Nina making that step! Nina is still progressing really well. Her husband Falko not so much, but he'll come around one of these days. But how is everyone doing? I hope well. I'm doing well. It's not a lot of fun to run to make a train in cold weather, but I'm getting better at planning so that doesn't happen. Things are great though. I'm happy. Elder Yorgason and the world's smallest umbrellaIn other news, our "miracle" investigator from last week is probably at least partly fake. Elder Yorgason was having some strong spiritual feelings during our lesson on Monday that he is lying to us about some things. His whole story was a little too good to be true. He knows too much about our church to be a real investigator. We still don't know the whole story with him. But that has been pretty awful because it makes me doubt all the investigators we do have. Moral of the story: don't prank the missionaries! Also, you can't lie to them because God is on their side! TL;DR -Breaking my mission records -Trains: my love-hate relationship with them -When pranks go too far More Weinachtsmarkt Oh yeah! And the German expression of the week is: Ehrlich? It means: Honestly? Elder Kimball Germany Frankfurt Mission 93053 Regensburg Prinz-Rupprecht-Straße 34 Alma 34:32 Derpy mannequin selfie In front of some interesting artYou know what I am grateful for? THE REGENSBURG BRANCH! We had an amazing Thanksgiving with three American families. At the Blacks on Tuesday, they heard that we weren't doing anything for Thanksgiving and they invited us to come to the Welches with them. It was an American Thanksgiving! With American families! Castle we walked up to with the Blacks, Welches, and Redds on Thanksgiving We had a great week. The craziest part was Vito. He is this random guy who texted us. We met with him yesterday and he said he got interested after he took a test on religions with beliefs.org or something like that, and the website matched him up to the Mormons! AND THEN he contacted some Sisters on mormon.org, but they didn't connect him with the missionaries in Regensburg fast enough, so he hunted us down himself. In the lesson, he already know and believed that God is our heavenly father, and he knew all about Joseph Smith. He has already read 10 chapters of the Book of Mormon. God really just gave us a prepared investigator. You'll be hearing more about him later. I am thankful for everyone who is reading this email. I am thankful for everyone who has made a difference in my life. You were my missionaries. You taught me the Gospel and who Jesus Christ is. I love you all! Mach's gut! Elder Yorgason and I Elder Kimball Germany Frankfurt Mission 93053 Regensburg Prinz-Rupprecht-Straße 34 Alma 34:32 No explanation Elder Stark and his eight pieces of luggage. We both almost died getting them to the BahnhofHello everyone! I'm staying in Regensburg! Somehow everyone seems to know before I tell them, but I thought I should mention it. Elder Stark has been transferred after being in Regensburg for EIGHT MONTHS. Up to now, he had been in Regensburg as long as I had been in the mission field. He went to Köln. Merry Christmas from the Regnesburg EldersAnd I'm with Elder Yorgason now! We have gotten along super well, and found lots of crazy connections. The biggest one is that we had the same piano teacher for a little bit! We were in the same masterclass at one point and apparently even talked to each other a little bit. It has been way fun just exchanging stories with him. He talks to everyone, which is going to be awesome because that's a habit I'm trying to get back into. His German is also very good. Elder Yorgason went to Timpview High School in Provo and went on a mission after a few semesters at BYU. He loves basketball and is also a super funny guy. Action shot of Elder YorgasonYeah, so this means I'm leading the area after having only been here for six weeks! A while ago that would have really freaked me out, but I feel fine this time. I expected Elder Stark to leave because he had been here for so long. Also, I learned a lot in my first area that applies to this one too. And I have now been District Leader for the majority of my mission, which is crazy! Nürnberger sausage!Sunday after we got the transfer call was intense. I was translating, and my permanent retainer that had popped partway off the day before kept stabbing me in the mouth while I was talking. By the end I could barely even talk, so after Sacrament Meeting I went into the bathroom and managed to pop it all the way off. As soon as I came out, the Branch President told me that we are teaching the Gospel Principles class, so I went upstairs to the classrooms. Elder Stark was sitting in there already with some of our African members. I didn't recognize one of them, but I assumed it is because I am still getting to know the branch. So we were teaching about the Plan of Salvation, and asked them to pray to know it was true. Then a class member told us she already knows it's true, and that she knows that church is where she should be. She told us her story of how her parents were baptized in Africa, and then went inactive once they moved to Germany. The missionaries who baptized her contacted her family, and she felt like she should come to church! She is a member, but this is the first time she has come in three years! The branch loves her and we are determined to keep her coming. Her name is Janvière, or Janny (pronounced like Shawny). Well, that's about all I have for you! Life is good! Make yourselves a great day! Ich liebe euch! Looking out over NürnbergElder Kimball
Germany Frankfurt Mission 93053 Regensburg Prinz-Rupprecht-Straße 34 Alma 34:32 From the train back from the Mission ConferenceI wanted to share some spiritual experiences from this week. This week we had a Stake Conference and a conference with a member of the area presidency here, Elder Sabin. First, from the Stake Conference. So there was a choir of missionaries who were singing How Firm A Foundation in German, and we were rehearsing right before. Somehow word had gotten around that I sing and don't mind singing solos, so I ended up singing a duet with David from the Nürnberg ward for one verse. As we sang I started to think about the meaning of the German version of the lyrics a little more. The German lyrics say: Wenn durch tiefe Leiden du rufst mich zu gehn und Stürme von Prüfungen wild mich umwehn, so wirst du in Schmerzen nicht fern von mir sein, dann will ich mein Herz dir, dann will ich mein Herz dir, dann will ich mein Herz dir zur Heiligung weihn Which translates roughly to: When you call me to go through deep suffering And storms of trials blow wildly around me So in my pain you won't be far from me Then I will consecrate my heart to thee Jesus Christ has always been close to me on my mission. He has been right there as I have gone through pain and sometimes suffering. While we were singing, these German lyrics started to translate in my mind and have meaning to me, and the Spirit spoke to me that they are true. When we willingly go through whatever God calls us to go through, he is with us through it all. Church in Bamberg we visited last weekSecond, at the mission conference. My strongest spiritual experience came when our Mission President, President Boyer, was speaking to us. For me, it has been easy to feel like my inviduality is being stifled on my mission. We all wear the same clothes, we all do the same things, and there are lots of talents that I am not able to use while I am here. Most of the people we talk to are not terribly happy to see us, and if you aren't getting along with your companion, that adds up to a lot of people who are unhappy with you. Sometimes I feel misunderstood by people here on my mission who only see the surface of who I am. That was how I was feeling going into this Mission Conference with Elder Sabin. I was also feeling like I haven't made a lot of close friendships with other missionaries because when we got to the Mission Confernece, I didn't know who to talk to. President Boyer started talking and I knew I was falling short of a lot of the things he has asked us to do. I have gotten worse at talking to people in trains and as we go since I was trained, and I still do not feel completely focused on the work. I felt awful. Then he said something with his closing remarks, something that I don't know if he meant to be significant: "I know who you are." President Boyer really does know us and care about us individually. I also felt that God was speaking to me through him. God knows who I am. That was a theme of that conference from that point on for me. God knows who you are. A lot of people just see who you are on the surface, but God knows who you really are. He realizes your struggles and what you are trying to do. He recognizes how awesome you are and the good that you do. He knows your talents and remembers when you have helped people. He knows you. Well, that was about it. This has been a really intense week. I hope this was able to help you in some way. The scripture is a favorite of mine out of the ones that Elder Sabin had us read in preparation for the conference. Mach's gut! D&C 43:34 Hearken ye to these words. Behold, I am Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world. Treasure these things up in your hearts, and let the solemnities of eternity rest upon your minds. Hört auf diese Worte. Siehe, ich bin Jesus Christus, der Erretter der Welt. Häuft dies alles in eurem Herzen auf wie einen Schatz, und laßt das Feierliche der Ewigkeit in eurem Sinn verweilen. Bookstore in Bamberg we visited last weekMall we walk by every dayDistrict picture from last weekPlaying Risk on P Day November 9thElder Kimball
Germany Frankfurt Mission 93053 Regensburg Prinz-Rupprecht-Straße 34 Alma 34:32 Servus everyone!
Things are starting to pick up here in Regensburg! We found a miracle investigator yesterday, Josef. On Wednesday we went to the university. It was fairly late, about 7. We klingeled an entire Wohnheim, and no one even answered. That was pretty weird. Then we had a little extra time. We walked just around the corner, and klingeled a house. One house. The man came out, we told him we had an Umfrage, and he invited us in. We gave him the Umfrage, and went right into the first lesson! He is single and older, and said that most of his family had died. He seemed very lonely, which would explain why he would be so interested in our message! The whole thing reminded me so much of when Elder Hyatt and I first met Frau Augustin in Wuppertal. The Spirit was very strong both times, and both were miracles. Nina is doing super well! She is still excited and still meeting with us, and she came to church on Sunday! Oh by the way she and her husband are the Salt Lake City referral couple that I talked about last week. They went and toured Temple Square, talked to some Sisters, and told the Sisters they would be interested in coming to church and in a visit from missionaries! I guess Elder Stark and Elder Hörtig had tried already to set something up with her, but it hadn't ever worked. I translated again on Sunday, and it was pretty rough. I have had a cold for a while now, so that didn't help. It was also Fast Sunday. On Sunday and yesterday for some reason, it was tough to get the motivation to go finding. We just did it though. It helps to have a companion. Yesterday we were hoping to get some kind of appointment so we could practice teaching like Elder Ballard asked us to. We were going to go by some inactives, but we changed our plans and went street contacting. It wasn't super productive except for this flirty Turkish girl that Elder Stark met. But I'm not sure she was interested in him or our message. Anyway, we were finding, and a member named Mitch called us and asked if we were doing anything! He lived within walking distance from where we were, and we had our appointment! It was way fun to get to know him more. He is from Texas and is working on the army base near us, Hohenfels. We practiced teaching the Restoration on him, and he gave us some awesome tips he learned on his mission, like doing a role-play with your companion every day. I wanted to share my thoughts with you about one of my favorite chapters in the Book of Mormon, Alma 14. At the beginning of this chapter, Alma and his companion Amulek have just finished preaching to the people in Ammonihah, who to put it lightly, were not very nice. I recently reread this chapter for the first time in a while. I wanted to enjoy the part at the end where (spoiler alert) Alma and Amulek break their bands and walk epically out of the prison while the walls fall down around them and kill the wicked men who were persecuting them. But there is a lot they have to go through before that happens. First off, they are bound and taken before the chief judge, where they are accused. But before they can be condemned officially, they are forced to watched all of the wives and children of those who believed them be thrown into a fire, along with their scriptures. Then the Chief Judge tells them, "Behold, ye see that ye had not power to save those who had been cast into the fire; neither has God saved them because they were of thy faith." They are then thrown into prison and deprived of about everything they can be deprived of. All of the officials of government in the area take turns smiting Alma and Amulek and saying such witty things as, "How shall we look when we are damned?" The last straw is when the Chief Judge says, "If ye have the power of God deliver yourselves from these bands, and then we will believe that the Lord will destroy this people according to your words." Alma prays for strength, he and Amulek break their bands, and the prison walls fall down and kill everyone except Alma and Amulek. The whole thing makes me think about when miracles have happened on my mission and in my life. They don't usually happen when everything is going your way. Sometimes it takes a lot of hard times, a lot of suffering, for something amazing to happen. Every awful, boring, mundane, or tiring thing that happens brings you closer to that miracle. And the miracle always happens because of our faith in Christ. Ich habe euch Lieb! Tschüß! Alma 14:26 And Alma cried, saying: How long shall we suffer these great afflictions, O Lord? O Lord, give us strength according to our faith which is in Christ, even unto deliverance. And they broke the cords with which they were bound; and when the people saw this, they began to flee, for the fear of destruction had come upon them. Und Alma schrie, nämlich: Wie lange sollen wir diese schweren Bedrängnisse ertragen, o Herr? O Herr, gib uns Stärke gemäß unserem Glauben, der in Christus ist, ja, daß wir befreit werden. Und sie zerrissen die Stricke, mit denen sie gebunden waren; und als die Leute das sahen, fingen sie an zu fliehen, denn die Furcht vor Vernichtung war über sie gekommen. Elder Kimball Germany Frankfurt Mission 93053 Regensburg Prinz-Rupprecht-Straße 34 Alma 34:32 |