Where was God?

This week we went to visit a Thai lady and her husband. So we went up, she was happy to see us and let us into her tiny apartment with her 3 large dogs haha They jumped all over, but so we get started and her husband comes out and squats by the couch. "So where is your God?" He asked, and then he started to ream us. He laid in hard and kept asking where God was.

"Where was God when my brother shot himself?"

"Where was God when my daughter was born so physically handicapped she can hardly breath?"

"Where was He then, where is He now, all sorts of stuff. Terribly awful things have happened to this man and he wanted to know "Where God was" he was bitter, and hated God. Several times he said "Wenn ich die Gelegenheit hatte, Deine Gott zu toten, ich werde! Sofort!"

(Translation) "If I had the chance to kill your God, I would. Without thinking."

With tears in his eyes he left the room... I sat in silent pain for this man... for the damage that he had taken and the distance it had driven between him and His Heavenly Father... we spoke a little more to his wife. After a few moments he came back out and stood in the doorway. He stayed silent as Elder Butler introduced the Book of Mormon. Then he sat on his haunches by the couch again. He asked us what we believed God was. We explained Gods loving nature, the fact that He is our Heavenly Father and that He loves us. 

You see in Germany, religion has this weird grip. You must you must. Tithing is literally a Tax you pay, when you come here you register with your denomination and then every pay check the state takes "Kirchen Steuer" or church tax directly out of your pay check and pays your church.

This was a completely new idea to this man... he had never understood God as a loving figure. He had always seen God as something to be feared. We spoke more about the gospel and he asked how he would become Mormon if he decided to do it. We explained Baptism and the Gift of the Holy Ghost. And he said "Ich bin euch niedrig." or I'm jealous of you. We said, you don't have to be, learn it for yourself. He asked for a Book of Mormon and we gladly obliged. We will be seeing him today or this week to explain the Plan of Salvation. But that was by far the most powerful experience of my mission. To see a man lose it, leave to cry and then come back, nearly on his knees and ask us about God... 

It was humbling actually. so that was by far the most influencing experience thus far, I vowed that night that I was going to do everything I could to give Chad (this man) and any other German, the best opportunity possible to accept the gospel, because it is really enabling, and comforting. everyone deserves to know that their God loves them. that hes not something to be appeased or feared. 

Also this week, Itried Leberknödel. or being translated Liver balls haha It was okay, but smelled like the pigs I cut open in biology in Mrs. Hawkins' class. haha Needless to say it was a fun experience, but not one I will be fond of repeating any time soon. 

A weird apartment update, our sink doesn't drain. It never has. It was a problem that existed before I got there. The solution of the very clever Elders before me was to take the pipe out from under the sink and just put a bucket under there that one can regularly drain into the toilet... making doing the dishes a 3 or 4 bathroom trip experience haha but this last week I overflowed it twice and had to mop up my mess :P wet food pieces and junk haha. We lent our iron to a lady in a wheelchair who lives above us. She used to be an investigator but lost interest so we are friends with her. she had it for an hour... it took us a little to realize she had to wait for it to cool so she could put it in her lap and wheel it back to us. humbling moment. 

So this area is amazing ahaha I love it so much. My running list of companions looks like this:

Elder Andrewsen MTC

Elder Robinett Cologne

Elder Van Dam Cologne

Elder Leimer Cologne

Elder Butler Hanau

haha a lot of time there in Cologne. 

Um... I dont know what else to share, mission life, real life, foods, haha Elder Butler is amazing, we have so much fun with everything. He loves contacting so my view of the hours we spend doing that has changed, also he and I have a lot in common so we have a lot to talk about, so the time is nice.

I miss y'all a ton! I love you so much, and pray for you often!

Liebe Gruße Elder Fisher