2 Mohammads and a Monroe

Hey Mom! So this week has been great! We started using a new finding technique and were able to find 3 new investigators in 2 days!! All of whom are Muslim and two of whom are called Mohammad haha. My New missionary Elder Monroe is a great guy! He's pretty advanced with his German and this week, tonight actually, he will be in the area with a different missionary for a split. I'm not worried though. The kid has a fire and knows more than he thinks.

So this finding technique has everything to do with how you talk with someone at the door and it's got my name written all over it. It's 8 steps to be really cool and just show them that you have something to share. And it really works! I love using it because even if they don't end up being interested you get to make a good impression. So these 8 steps are coupled with a survey. You ask to come inside to take the survey (which is all Gospel"y" questions and then at the end you say you have a message that goes really well with the Survey and that you'd like to start it with a prayer! At this point they are no longer on Commercial Defense mode but pretty relaxed and almost everyone says "yeah sure" and then we teach the 1st lesson RIGHT THERE!!! It's so nice to be able to teach! I LoVE IT! And its fantastic because Elder Monroe will continue to EXPECT to teach! I just know that we will be able to see a Baptism together! Which would keep me on track for my Mission Baptismal Goal. So needless to say I'm very very happy haha. It's just nice to actually see the fruits of hours of planning and practicing come together to give someone a real opportunity to change their life like never before :) 

I know that this church is the church of Jesus Christ. I know with all my heart that the Lord Loves Us. He gave his life up to give us a chance to Change ours. I know that Christ is the Son of God. I know that God has called a prophet in our day to lead his church. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet. I know that from him there has been an unbroken line of Priesthood authority that continues to bless the lives of the saints. I know, KNOW that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. I KNOW that it and the Bible brings us The FULLNESS of the Gospel. I know, that we can be with our families forever and I am so thankful for the opportunity to bring this knowledge to everybody I meet.

It has been very interesting to teach people of the Divinity of Christ. Muslims do not see him as anything more than a prophet. So I have been able to explain the need for a savior and the amazing Grace that Christ is. 2 Nephi 25 has become a favorite scripture of mine. 

Read it

Love it

Love Elder Fisher

Aus Duisburg

Transfer Fun

Hey hey! This week has been pretty fun! So yeah. This transfer i am training again! His name is Elder Monroe and he reminds me so much of Houston Swann! haha

So Elder Garner and i were able to take the same ICE (Bullet train) to Frankfurt! It was a fun 2 hour ride. We caused some problems by putting our luggage in the wrong places. In seats. Above young children with protective mothers. But after a few difficult conversations we made it to Frankfurt! We traveled around, got lost, it sleeted and then we made it to the street display with the other trainers and the Goldens (new missionaries) after that we got back to the Frankfurt church building to have the pairing meeting. Memories flooded back of my first day and meeting sister Carroll there. Seeing my trainer. Falling asleep haha. I was able to see a bunch of people from my group and other friends. Basically everyone who trained this round were people I've met and befriended haha it was really fun.

After i found out i was training Elder Monroe the Goldens left for the hotel and the trainers had a training meeting for trainers. It lasted too long but was a great intro to training. We got back to the Hotel with all the Goldens and the trainers all stayed in the Lobby for a little while and talked. Sister Catherall was there and Sister Williams, Elder Andrewsen, Elder Warner. It was wonderful to be able to talk with old friends. Coming back into the area i was super excited to show my Golden the wold of Germany without spraying him with a firehose of info. I keep asking if he has any questions but he doesn't haha. Honestly he doesn't feel like a new missionary. He seems pretty accustomed to Germany and missionary work and his German is great! Today we went to Burg Linn in Krefeld. It was a cool way to introduce the new missionaries to Germany. It was a lot of stairs and a lot of Photos haha. We got the entire district together and played like little kids haha. Um... i dont know, i don't really feel super different now that im 20 haha Sister Catherall remembered my birthday and brought me a card. That was nice. I haven't heard anything from Ben. I emailed twice but got nothing in return. And yes i put them up still haha. So sister Catherall stayed the night in that apartment with the other sisters after we left and they saw them and thought someone's girlfriend had sent them ahaha i corrected her and said i just had a cool mom haha. Sadly i don't have any photos of the Apartment but i have a few videos from today haha next week the Apartment.

He called me here

This week we went back to the Grind. Finding finding finding. I've spoken to so many people but no one has enough interest to show up to our appointments. I had one Muslim tell me that in Islam they say "one man one word" as in, you must keep your promises. Of course I promised and show up to our appointment but after 45 minutes of standing in the cold, I accepted that he didn't take that saying to heart.

I'm having a hard time with that. Muslims I mean. From what I've read and heard and understood about Mohammad and Islam, they should be really stand up people. In fact I've met a few, only a handful, that I would really call Muslima. But the majority of my interactions from them is cold discrediting of my beliefs, Verfolgung (persecution) and mockery. I'm trying to love these people, as I know the Lord does and because I know there are many "Christians" who act the same. I've met those too haha. In my experience Syrians seem to be the most Muslim of the bunch. I Love Syrians haha Rami was a Syrian. But I digress, I can't help but feel that there is a Cold War happening between Christianity and Islam here in Germany. There is a clear separation. Olive skin and Hijabs usually stand apart from Blonde hair and Crosses. And everyone says that they "respect" and "accept" each other but these words are being used as synonyms for endure and allow. There is little admiration or even understanding between the two. And that makes the work here particularly interesting. We still don't have any investigators. In fact the one man we had been teaching moved to the Oberhausen area so we're at a minus 1. It bugged me that we weren't teaching but then I realized that I'm doing all I can. More than I've ever done so far, and the Lord knows that. He called me here and if I'm not teaching, then I'm sure there's something I need to be learning.

So I'm waiting patiently for that as I labor for my Savior.

I get tired of typing in English haha,

Ach so, da, jetzt fühl ich mich wohl. Ich kann gar nicht mehr auf englisch beten. Haha es fühlt komisch mit dem Herrn auf englisch zu sprechen. Die meisten von meine Gedanken sind auch auf deutsch. Es ist jetzt meine Sprache ahaha ich liebe es so sehr. Ich will ein paar deutscher freunde so dass ich es besser verstehen und benutzen können.

NAJA ich Quatsch nur ein bisschen.

(Oh, well, now I feel good. I can no longer pray in English. Haha it feels funny talking to the Lord in English. Most of my thoughts are also in German. It's now my language ahaha I love it so much. I want a few german friends so I can understand and use it better.
NAJA I nonsense just a bit.)

Today we went to some Roman ruins. It was super fun!!! We played in the Colosseum, saw the bath Hauses and many different clothing styles, we learned about the culture and even got T-shirts. It is amazing to think about how much history there is here. German and then Roman and even older than that. I'm honored to be able to serve among a people with such a rich and far reaching culture.