To answer your first question, for some reason gmail had trouble sending you an email. So what it would do is try and then wait a day to send itself again if it didn't work. I got a warning email saying that it would keep trying to send it. I don't know what the deal was but it has nothing to do with me having favorites. I promise!
I'm sorry to hear about B, but it sounds like it is for the best. Give her a hug for me or something!
I did get that card from A. Thanks A! I actually got it the day I moved out of Usingen into Wetzlar. 'Just lucky I guess.' Even if it had come later it would have been no problem since I see the Elders from my district so often. There are McDonalds' here and it was more than enough. I am very grateful :)
AW got his call! Awesome.
I look forward to the package! Usually ZoKo is the third week in the cycle. Today is the first day of the new cycle so I should only be without it for a couple weeks. Probably the best thing to do would be to send everything to the mission office. I think the simple letters are ok to send to my actual address but something of value should be sent to the mission office. I don't think I'll be transferred for a while, unless I'm bound to just hop around the mission for the whole two years.
Transfer calls came this morning. So lets see. I started in Erfurt and had two companions there. Then I was blitzed to Usingen to work with two other elders. Then I was blitzed into Wetzlar (luckily the same district) to work with someone else. And now with the new cycle... (drum roll)... I am being transferred to Wesel? I think that is how you spell it. I will be working with Elder Cu. My first day is on Wednesday. Within my first three months in the field I will have had 4 areas and 6 assigned companions. Elder Co had 4 areas in his entire mission. I am sad to see him go - he and Elder L. I'm just sad to leave this district actually. We all got along really well. Also, es passiert!
So I was on a split with my old comp Elder M on Friday and we had a really cool experience doing finding time. We had the option to go either to this one dorf or to stay in Usingen to knock doors. We couldn't decide so we prayed about it. Elder M said a prayer then I said a prayer. Neither of us had any overwhelming urge to go to either place but I just felt like Usingen was the right place and Elder M agreed. Thinking about this small dorf just felt wrong I guess. So we stayed in Usingen and knocked out some doors. Naturally, the last door we klingled on let us in. This younger Muslim man who thought it was uncharitable to turn us away. We prayed with him and told him a little bit about what we do and what we believe. He told us what he believed but was way cool about it and was all like, 'correct me if I'm wrong but this is what I think.' In general, just way open and way receptive to the spirit. He told us about all these spiritual experiences he has had and that he knows God is there and cares about him. It was so cool! Elder M was shaking from how strong he felt the spirit. You could just tell that this guy knew what was up. We gave him a Book of Mormon and asked him to read it with an open mind and he was like 'of course, of course!' It was so cool. He described this dream to us he had after he had come to a point in his life where he realized he needed to know if God was there or not. He told us then that he prayed and prayed and prayed. Then he had this dream one night where he saw this man in middle eastern robes or something but he couldn't see his face because he was radiating this bright light and it was impossible to look in his face. He described this feeling of joy and peace being the most overwhelming thing he has ever experienced before. This man in his dream was holding out this box to him that had a book in it. He didn't really know what the book was and at this point in the story he had gone off into how crazy the feeling was that he felt. We knew that it was the spirit he had felt because we could feel it as he was telling us this story. He thinks the middle eastern dressed man was Muhammed and I think maybe for him it was important that he thought it was Muhammed. I don't really know, but maybe God answered his prayer in a way that was familiar to him or maybe he just interpreted that way. Elder M thinks the book he was describing was the Book of Mormon. Maybe, I don't know. It was just a really cool experience. If he is that receptive to the spirit, as long as he stays open minded I think he could find out that it is true. I always thought working with people of Muslim faith would be difficult. I won't see him again probably but I've asked Elder M to keep me updated.
Alles gute bei mir! Vielen dank für ihre liebe!
Love
Elder Evan
This is this week (my Friday pday on the 18th):
For a little over a week now I've been in Wesel which is in the Düsseldorf zone, my third zone already. My district here is way different from the last. Not bad just different. Instead of quoting Star Wars in German everyone quotes their favorite conference talks. Instead of inside jokes about triple high bunkbeds, panzarattis and deep fried twinkies everyone jokes about different scripture references to use in certain teaching situations. I feel a little lost in this district but maybe that is a sign I need to grow up or something? I don't know. They are all way awesome missionaries and I look forward to working with them more. I was kind of sad because one of the Elders (Elder A) who I roomed with in the MTC left this district as I came in. But I'm sure I will see him some other time.
My new companion, Elder Cu, has been out a little over a year. I don't know really what else to say about him other than he is pretty awesome and knows his stuff. There is no messing around with him. We tried to teach this lesson yesterday to a guy who thinks he has it all figured out. He thinks there is no point in this life if we just come in to this life and then die which is why it is then necessary that we are reincarnated. He says he can remember back on 4 of his previous lives and that there he didn't have his wife or his aquarium. I thought that was pretty funny :) But then he said we didn't need bodies and that there is no point to having a body. Elder Cu was like, 'Doch! Wir brauchen einen körper!' He threw out all of these reasons but this guy had made up his mind so we just kind of left it at that. It was a pretty intense appointment. Sometimes it comes to a point where you have to realize that there is no teaching some people and that you need to get out of there before it turns into a bible bash of sorts.
I think the biggest lesson I've learned this week is that faith without works is dead. One thing I'm always asking myself is if I really have faith that I can find someone or do I just have wishful thinking? I was back in a drit for three days during this training thing and this other Elder we were with would just talk to everyone that he saw. And I mean everyone. All the people I would have thought would have been awkward to talk to at that given time he talked to them anyway. We got 7 new contacts/potential investigators that day which is way, way, way above average here in Germany. It was amazing to me. I think we show the Lord that we have faith that there are people ready to teach when we do everything in our power to find. We have to show that we are willing to work for it and come part of the way if the Lord is going to help us with the rest.
Question: Could you ask the Elders in your ward if they have a hard time finding a joint teach or if that is ever an issue? I'm just curious to hear what they say.
I'm just really excited to be here :) I love this gospel! I really feel sorry for all the people who reject it. Just give it a try I say. I don' t have a lot of time today to talk but thanks for the love, support and prayers.
I still have Pday on Monday! Don't forget to write.
Love,
Elder Evan
