We are teaching great people. We've been really blessed.
Sister Weidmann and I have goals of things that we have realized we need to work on. So we have a goal for every day of the week, so on Wednesdays we focus on asking inspired questions, Thursdays inviting everyone, Fridays asking for referrals, etc., so everyday we are trying to turn those weaknesses into strengths. I think it's been working really well because we hold each other accountable and help each other to remember. Also it improves our contacts because we are not just talking to people, but we are trying to help them come closer to Jesus Christ, which is our missionary purpose after all :)
Richard is doing so good! I feel so strongly that that timing was inspired. We talked with him yesterday. The local missionaries came over on Monday and brought him a Book of Mormon and visited with him for about an hour. He said he just felt so fulfilled. He likes the Book of Mormon and was feeling like it agrees with everything he believes. He kept saying things like, 'it fits with my bible' or 'i haven't found anything that differs from my bible' so we told him hey, we want you to know that the Book of Mormon doesn't replace the Bible. We told him how we use them together and he was so relieved. He said, I'm so happy you told me that because that was the impression I had gotten. Now he is excited to read them together to see how they fit together. In Preach my Gospel, it says that we should invite people to be baptized in the first lesson, and no later than the second lesson. I didn't invite int he first lesson because of his past experience with pushy missionaries, but I knew that we needed to on Tuesday. So we invited him to be baptized and he told us about how he didn't like that he was baptized into the Catholic church as an infant because it wasn't his choice, so a couple years ago he went to Jerusalem and was baptized in the River Jordan. He told us all about that experience and how it was life changing and how great it was and said that he has already fulfilled that and doesn't want to again. We taught him about the Gift of the Holy Ghost and how special it is, and how we don't want to take away from the great experience he had, but that we would love for him to be able to add to it. I think he understood that a lot more and that is something he wants to have. The spirit was there and I know he felt it. He said that he is so grateful that we call him because he learns so much and feels like it's what Heavenly Father wants for him. Oh and on the bright side, we cleared up some of the history with missionaries being pushy...he asked us if Jehovah's witnesses were a branch of LDS and told us a story of when they knocked on his door and after the conversation of him saying he was not interested, they shoved their foot in the door so it couldn't close and kept trying to talk to him. He said he hated that and thought they were our missionaries. We just explained that that isn't our religion and not our missionaries. It lightened it up a lot haha and at least now he knows it wasn't us!
We are also teaching a girl named Briee. She had come on chat asking for a Book of Mormon. Her whole family is Baptist, but she has just had this feeling that it's not complete so she started searching. She actually heard about the church through some news story of a Mormon guy that was killed, so it piqued her interest and she was googling it when she came across Mormon.org and that's when she wanted a Book of Mormon. Well we've been calling her and she is learning so fast. She's been reading and praying and really likes it so far. She went to church on Sunday and is wanting the missionaries to come teach her more in her area. We shared the Book of Mormon promise (Mor. 10: 3-5) with her and talked about the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost. She said she has felt it before so we encouraged her to look for those same feelings as she reads the Book of Mormon and prays about it. We invited her to be baptized and she said yes. It amazes me how people can be so open-minded. It is really a testimony to me of how the Lord is hastening His work! I'm grateful that people are willing to obey those subtle promptings, even when they don't know they are promptings. It really is a fulfillment of the scripture in D&C 123: "For there are many yet on the earth among all sects, parties, and denominations, who are blinded by the subtle craftiness of men, whereby they lie in wait to deceive, and who are only kept from the truth because they know not where to find it—" We all have to be missionaries to help others know where to find it!
We are also teaching Pascal in Germany. He is doing really well and has a baptismal date. He has some problems with his nasal cavity though so he's been really sick and not able to go to church. We are hoping the elders will come and give him a blessing so he can come to church on Sunday. It's funny because he likes to talk to us after he meets with the elders because they are from America and he can't understand their German so he likes to clarify things with Sister Weidmann haha. But he's an awesome guy. It's cool to see someone who is, once again, open, especially in Germany because most people there do not believe in God and have no desire to do so, but he believes in God and wants to do what's right.
We're also teaching someone named Lyssa who came on chat. She didn't grow up very religious but began praying after her brother passed away. She heard about the Book of Mormon and came on chat to get one. We sent the local missionaries at the beginning of January, and they still haven't gotten there!! Hopefully she will be able to go to church so she can meet them there or at least get the Book....we're not sure why they haven't come yet. We told her about the online version and the free download in the Apple store so she'll use that until she can have a hard copy. Last time we talked we taught her about the Book of Mormon and what she can expect from it, and how she can recognize truth. I think it's all new to her but she really likes it because it gives her peace. Now we just need to invite her to be baptized!
We're teaching more but don't have time to tell you about all of them, unfortunately. But we've had such a great week at the Beehive house and the teaching center and on the Square. We've felt the spirit as we've testified to people. Unfortunately they don't always want to act on that feeling of the Spirit but after all, it does take 7 good contacts on average with the church before someone accepts the Gospel. So we are happy we can be one of those!
We love serving here! Thanks for all your prayers and support.
I attached some pictures from this week in the Beehive House, we open it some days before the guests arrive, so we got to explore a little bit!
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