TBH, MISSION TOUR WITH ELDER UCHTDORF, & Miracles!!

Hi!  I am just gonna warn you, this letter is quite long, but well worth it cause this week has been absolutely wild and I also have a lot to get off of my chest. Last Monday the Chemnitz Elders came to town and overnighted with us so that Elder Woods could make his way to Berlin early in the morning for his visa appointment. On Wednesday, we had our first traditional Austausch. I went and spent the day with Elder Madsen in Freiberg, while Elder Horsley stayed in Dresden and spent the day with Elder Uchtdorf. On Thursday, I came back and spent the day with Elder Uchtdorf, and Elder Horsley went to Freiberg to be with Madsen. 

I really enjoyed my time with Elder Madsen in Freiberg. He is a freaking stud. I love how humble he is. He always focuses on the positives and never complains about anything. That is something that I really want to replicate. President Nelson roughly said that the joy that you experience in life has nothing to do with your circumstances, but rather your focus. When you focus on the positives, you'll be so much more joyful. Freiberg is also such a cute little city. I would not mind at all if I were to get transferred and die there. Despite how beautiful the city center is here in Dresden, the city is not my favorite. It just doesn't fit me well. I'm a simple guy and big cities feel very overwhelming to me with everything that is going on. I really miss my time in Hildesheim. It was quieter and more peaceful. There we lived very close to the city center and were able to walk or bike to most places. I also liked that the Gemeinde in Hildesheim as it was smaller and I could get to know everyone there. It felt more personal to me, that it was closer-knit, and was more of a family. 

On the way home from Freiberg I sat in the booth across from two ladies. I overheard them speaking another language so I asked them where they were from. Neither of them could speak a lick of German so we ended up conversing using a translation app that one of them had. They said they were from Ukraine, I then told them that I can't imagine how tough it must be for them and that I am praying for the people there. Throughout my time here in Germany, I've met many refugees and my heart goes out to them. It must take so much courage for them to keep pushing forward, having had to leave everything behind them so suddenly to move to another country and adjust to living there, while loved ones back home are fighting in the war. I ask you to not forget about all the refugees out there. Please keep them in your prayers that they may be given the strength they need and that the world will be more peaceful. These two, then asked me for help finding their way since the train we were taking didn't go all the way to Hauptbahnhof since there is ongoing construction on the rails. We had to get off a few stops before and then take a bus there. I told them to follow me and they were extremely grateful for that. 

Elder Uchtdorf and I were able to get some really solid findings together. I'd have to say that my favorite thing about Dresden, is that it's so big that it makes for great findings. We had the feeling to hop on a straßenbahn to Hauptbahnhof. While on the straßenbahn we struck up a conversation with this one catholic man and were able to tell him about the Book of Mormon. He then took one without hesitating. He said he really enjoyed our conversation and that he would love it if we would send him passages to read in it.

 

On Friday as I was waiting for Elder Horsley to get back from Freiberg. I decided that I could use my time better than sitting around and twiddling my thumbs, so I went out finding in the city. After constantly being around someone for so long, being alone felt so weird. I was out there for around an hour and for the first 45 minutes I kept on getting hit with rejection after rejection but then the last 15 minutes I was able to get the contacts of three people who are interested in hearing the message that we share. That's just a reminder to keep pushing forward when things get tough. Each "no" that we get as missionaries makes the "yes" that comes so much sweeter. 

Saturday was so special. Elder Uchtdorf, an apostle of the Lord, came and visited our mission. We all met in Berlin to meet and hear from him. He spoke about quite a few different topics. My favorite was that he said that we need to convert ourselves before we declare the word of God to others. If our heart is not 100% into the work we simply won't be able to teach with power and authority. In the end, he bore testimony that he knows that Christ is our savior and that he lives. At that moment, the spirit that was present in that room was something else. It was also so nice seeing so many friends that I haven't seen in so long. 

On the way home the trains kept on falling through, so we didn't end up getting home until around midnight, and we had a layover at the Berlin airport. 

The next day we were able to have our first lesson with a friend of ours who is so Golden. The story of how we found him is insane!! When Elder Horsley and I first got to Dresden we had the feeling to start a German Sprachcafé to help people here who are learning German, by giving them a place where they could practice with others. We advertised our Sprachcafe on Facebook and then ended up having over 80 people join our Whatsapp group. Before our first in-person meeting we messaged each person individually to ask them if they would come. One person who we wrote, to said that he wouldn't be coming soon since his German is so basic, that he feels it wouldn't be worth his time. We continued the conversation and then he asked us the question that every missionary wants to hear, "What are you guy's doing here in Germany?". We then explained to him that we are missionaries from our church and that we help others strengthen their relationship with God. He then told us that his jaw dropped as he read that. A month ago he was having this reoccurring dream where he was baptized into a church and Jesus said "Come unto me, I'm waiting for you". He then asked us for help understanding this dream. We of course told him, that we would gerne (love to or like) help him. 

Then two Sundays ago, we met with him for the first time. He came to the church to get a Book of Mormon in Arabic, and while he was there we gave him a tour of the building. To conclude we showed him the baptismal font, and he said "That's what I saw in my dream", and asked if he could take a picture of it. We then explained to him that General Conference was going on. He said he would love to watch it, so we sent him the link to it in Arabic and he did later that night. He said that he loved the messages that were given, that the music sounded as if he was flying to Heaven, and that he felt that he was on the right path. 

The only reason we haven't baptized him yet is because of the language barrier. There are not that many Arabic-speaking members so we had to recruit a member in Berlin to translate for us. 

We tried to have our first lesson with this friend yesterday. Our friend was having internet problems and then we didn't have much time for a full lesson when it started to work. He wanted to know how we pray so we explained a bit to him and then he had to go. The member who translated for us said he was super excited to meet him and that he's really interested in learning. Hopefully next time it'll work out and we can invite him to be baptized. 

That right there is such a strong sign to me that there is a God and that miracles still do occur. I invite y'all to strengthen your relationship with God. Mine has helped me to find true joy in this life and I know he can help you do that too. Will you strengthen your relationship with God so you can have true joy in this life? 

Shout out to all those who made it through all of that. I love you guys a million and hope you have a great week!!

- Love Elder Rothärmel