Talk To The Hand, Royalty, And The Big Picture

Hallo alle!

 

A busy and crazy week to say the least.

 

On Saturday, we did a district finding activity in Wuppertal. We went into the main walking part in the downtown part of the city and just went around talking to people. The people of Wuppertal were NOT having it that day. One other elder had some more success, but all the people I talked to in the span of two hours except for 1 person, were completely unwilling to talk. I often got the iconic "German hand". If you start to talk to them, they quickly flick their wrist up with an open palm, "talk to the hand", and they speed off. I find it interesting how many of them don't even skip a beat or flinch. Don't worry there are also plenty of nice people who say no really nicely. Me and another Elder also got stopped by two guys advertising a new store that opened. Long story short we spun a wheel and got 20% off a tooth whitening service! It taught me a good lesson about patience though. Christ was rejected by His OWN people, even people He grew up with in Nazareth, and yet He still did not lose His cool. He showed them nothing but love, and that's really all we should do to those around us, especially when we are frustrated or angry.

 

On Saturday night I found out that I would be leaving Duisburg and going to Aachen! So on Sunday, I gave my testimony in church and said bye to the members, which was a bit sad, since I have gotten pretty close to them. Sister Cooley and I also filmed another song together to give to the members (since she was leaving too). 

 

On Monday we traveled about 90 minutes somewhere to deliver a Book of Mormon, and the address was wrong, so that was a shame, especially on my last day in Duisburg. However that night we went over to the Pabst family's one last time and it was a lot of fun. Sister Pabst made my favorite cake (in Germany, don't worry mom). Anything with streusel is incredible! 

 

I was sad to leave Duisburg after getting to know so many members there, but I am excited to be here in Aachen. It is a really pretty city with a lot of history. For all your history buffs, this is where Charlemagne was crowned (i think) the first Holy Roman Emperor, and where he is buried. Soooo, I'm basically royal now.

 

But on Tuesday, right as I got here, we met with our dutch friend (we are right on the border with the Netherlands and Belgium) who is going to get baptized. She already has a strong testimony and is really ready. We were talking about how God gives us rules and laws to follow not because He wants to restrict our freedom, but because He loves us and wants us to be the happiest we can be in eternity. He looks at the big picture. All of the sudden when we were talking about that, a scripture popped in my head: 1 Nephi 17:36. I almost immediately shared it and I am glad I did. It says "Behold, the Lord hath created the earth that it should be inhabited; and he hath created his children that they should possess it". This earth is for us! God made everything for us, and everything He does is for us. Having this in perspective, one can come to understand that everything from God is for our good, because He loves us so much. I am glad I listened to the Spirit and shared this scripture, because it helped her understand why things like tithing are necessary. God has given so many good things to us, and the least we can do is give just a little bit back.

 

Anyways that's all for next week! Feel free to email me whenever, I just can't reply till Thursdays!

 

Love yall,

Landon

 

1. Us, the sisters, and Diyar

2. St. Joseph's church right in front of our apartment (Aachen)

3. A cool street by our apartment (Aachen)

4. District right after our finding activity

5. Us and the Pabst family (minus president Pabst)

6. Me and the legend himself, Brother Börgartz

7. Sunset + Church building

8. Me and Vishnu right before I left








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