Week 46

Hey Guys!! Sorry for not writing in forever. I really have no good excuse, other than being lazy haha. Since the last time I wrote so much has happened. I got transferred, almost two weeks ago, to the city of Brunswick and I love it here.

Transfer day was a ton of fun, being able to see a bunch of other missionaries, at Hauptbahnhof in Berlin. As I made my way to Hannover where my new comp was waiting for me, my train passed through Wolfsburg which is where Volkswagen has its international headquarters, a massive factory, and a pretty cool Museum from what I've heard (I'll definitely have to check it out some P-day).

My new companion, Elder Liddiard is a total stud. He's from Mapleton, Utah, and has been out on his mission for 7 months now, but has only been in Germany since February. His story of how he got here is so crazy, he had to go through so much. He went from being in HMTC in December to flying to England, to Croatia, and then finally was able to make it into Germany with all the Corona regulations that were in place.

It's been such a fun time serving with him and the members here have been so welcoming.

We also had Zone Conference last Saturday which was as awesome as always. The theme for it was: working with members, and I was able to leave with so much inspiration on what I can do better to build our relationship with the ward here and wherever I serve.

Some ways how I applied what I learned:

This past week I saw an opportunity to serve an elderly couple. We mowed their lawn for them and they were so grateful. I also asked this member who's really good with genealogy to help me with my genealogy. He invited us over and was able to show me how to find my ancestors by looking through old courthouse documents.

Before I sign off here's a thought that really touched me recently:
As I read 3 Nephi 2 verses 1 and 2

"1 And it came to pass that thus passed away the ninety and fifth year also, and the people began to forget those signs and wonders which they had heard and began to be less and less astonished at a sign or a wonder from heaven, insomuch that they began to be hard in their hearts, and blind in their minds, and began to disbelieve all which they had heard and seen—

2 imagining up some vain thing in their hearts, that it was wrought by men and by the power of the devil, to lead away and deceive the hearts of the people; and thus did Satan get possession of the hearts of the people again, insomuch that he did blind their eyes and lead them away to believe that the doctrine of Christ was a foolish and a vain thing."

I found it so sad that the majority of the Nephites had forgotten the miraculous sign of Christ's birth (that the night was as bright as day) after only a few years. That really emphasized to me how important it is that we write down our spiritual experiences, so that we don't forget them, and fall away from the straight and narrow path that will lead us to eternal life. If you guys don't already, I invite you to write down your spiritual experiences. I have found that looking back on spiritual experiences has especially helped me endure hard times when light is hard to see.

I hope y'all have a great week!!

- Love Elder Rothaermel