9 months

This week we had a Zone Conference which was held in an area of Berlin called Dahlem.  It is located on the western side of the city. There are some really cool old buildings on this side of town.  A couple of themes we talked about were listening to the Holy Ghost and praying about how we can really meet the needs of those we serve.  Are you serving them the way we want to serve them or are we serving them for what they really need?  An example of how we applied this was in teaching our friend Ibraham.  We adapted our lesson to include time to talk to him and find out what was going on with him.

One of the scriptures from the conference was Isaiah 11:12, which says that God "shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.".

1. When God gathers us, he doesn't just do so for no reason (in such a way as a child gathers rocks), he assembles us- he gathers us because he has a purpose and a work for us to do. No matter who you are, where you are, or what you have done, God has a work for you to do if you are willing to let Him prevail

2. God doesn't just gather Israel, He gathers the outcasts of Israel. This goes back to the other thing that I learned, and it shows me that God really does not look at anything that to us people could indicate status or respectability, He gathers the outcasts- all those that wander and do not know where to turn for help, all those who yearn for peace and have not been able to find it, and all those that I forgot to mention. He loves each one of us and wants each one of us to come back to Him, and when we remember that, it changes everything 

This week we served twice in a Children's Bee Garden.

We taught many come follow me lessons to members of our ward. On our way to one member's house, as we were riding the bus, this drunk man begged us to take him home. It was really hard to understand him, but we were able to get him home.  It was so sad!

I was able to get my arm looked at finally.  It is healing well.  I should be able to get my cast off before my birthday.  

We had in-person church this week and a member of our branch brought us a really yummy dinner of pork pieces in a yummy gravy over rice and chocolate mousse for dessert.