New Week

Another great week here in Germany! Missionary work is really hard but it is so worth it. I love being out here being able to serve The Lord 24/7. The way the gospel changes people lives around is amazing. Germany is an amazing place and the work is starting to move forward. I am lucky, I came at the exact right time.

This week was a little bit slower. We had 4 fallen out appointments which was super frustrating because we don’t get the opportunity to meet with a whole lot of people. One fallen out appointment was actually really funny. We were contacting people on the streets and we got a call. The lady told us that it was too hot so we can’t meet with her. Then we asked her if we could meet over at our Ward house and she said "No, we are afraid if we walk there we are going to get headaches and heat exhaustion.".... Ha that’s just how some Germans are it seems like. But that’s missionary work for you right there. It is super frustrating sometimes because it has been sooo hot here and it’s humid too. So we walk around all day and then no one lets us in. But it has humbled me so much and I am grateful for that.

Kind of a funny story, this older lady in our ward loves to have the missionaries over. And in our area we have 2 sisters then us 2 Elders. She asked the elders to come over for lunch on Tuesday and so we agreed and we were planning on that. What we didn’t know is that she contacted the sisters too.. And told them the same time but us Elders didn’t know. Ha so right before lunch time on Tuesday we called the sisters and told them we had a lunch appointment over at Sister Fischers. They kind of laughed and told us they had a lunch appointment at Sister Fischers.. So we showed up at Sister Fischers apartment and realized there were only 4 places set up at the table in the kitchen.. Ha we sat down and she dished us the food then just got up, closed the door, and left us 4 sitting there. Ha, we were so confused because that usually can’t happen on missions. Haha it was really funny. We began to eat and called it the "Mission date" ha because we didn’t want to be mean. It was super funny and our sisters are awesome. Then during dessert Sister Fischer came back in. It was super weird and it’s even better because I can’t understand German at all. So I was soo lost.

I don’t have any special stories this week really. Here in Friedricksdorf we can’t contact because when the temple was built they told them that missionaries couldn’t proselyte in all of Friedricksdorf.. So some days we just walk around the town hoping someone will stop us and talk to us. That’s why we have tried to focus a lot on the member work. This area was just barely opened so the members are really comfortable and won’t do a whole lot of missionary work. We are trying our best to help all of them.

We have this investigator, Helena, she is from Russia but has had a really hard past. She wants to get baptized soo bad but she just doesn’t understand the Priesthood. She thinks she has been forgiven because she has been baptized in the Baptist church. But she doesn’t understand and doesn’t want to say her baptism was not by the right authority.. This lady is kind of crazy too.. She is in love with Elder Lindsey and I and gives us things.. So we had to give her over to the Sisters because she loved us too much. She comes to church but she tells all the members the missionaries won’t let her get baptized so it’s kind of a bad situation because we want the trust of the members. But it will all work out.

I am loving this place! Germany is absolutely incredible.. The food is amazing. We eat at the members’ homes about 3 to 4 times a week so we eat nonstop. I am doing my best to exercise and stay fit but it’s hard. Haha I don’t think I have gained any weight but I have no clue. The transportation system in Germany is amazing!! They are right on time with everything. The trains are also really cool here. We ride them every day to our areas. Our apartment is in Bad Hamburg and is actually a really nice apartment. It is perfect size. Bad Hamburg is actually where all the rich Germans live.. Down by Kuhr Park there are really nice stores and shops, Casino, Nice big park. It’s actually a really cool place. One problem is no one has air conditioning here because it is so expensive. So nights get brutal sometimes but we are surviving.

Anyways, I hope that everyone is doing well. This is an amazing time to be a missionary. My companion is one of the coolest kids I know. We are the exact same in every way. We get along so well. He works super hard and is super humble. We are pretty much already best friends. We work so well together and we both love this area. Hope everything is going well. Thanks for all the emails. This work is super hard but is totally worth it.

I love you all.

Elder Emery

1st Week in Germany!

Guten Tag!

Wow, I am finally here and enjoying the real Mission experience. Germany is Incredible... ha this place is absolutely amazing. First, off I want to say Happy Father’s Day to my dad. He has shown me so much in my life and I am so grateful for him. Also, happy birthday to Dad and Jackson this week!! Sorry to say but you are getting old. Haha

Sooo the real fun has happened. My companion is one of the coolest guys and one of the best trainers. His name is Elder Linsey and he actually lives in American Fork. He graduated in 2010 and he loves sports. We have the exact same personalities and I love it because he is one of the hardest workers I know. We always do the exact same things as each other. He and I are already best friends it seems like. We don’t fight or argue about anything and we love talking about sports. We get a ton done every day. I will send some pictures. So I am currently serving in the Frederiksdorf zone and it is SOOO pretty.. Frederiksdorf is where the Frankfurt temple is. It is honestly one of the coolest places to be. Elder Linsey opened up this area to missionary work about 2 transfers ago. So we are pretty much just building the area back up. Our apartment is in Bad Hamburg which is also an amazing place. And we take the Bahn every day to where we need to go. The transportation system here in Germany is Amazing. The buses and trains leave right on time and it is soooo organized.

A couple stories already have happened. Soo our second day here we were went to check on an old investigator at his house which was on the other side of town. We rode the bus to the other side of town which is about 5 miles away from our apartment and went up to the door and realized he was not home. So we started to head back to the bus stop but I had this feeling that we should walk back. We both looked at each other and agreed that’s what we should do. On our walk back we started contacting people on the street and it was scaring me because if we didn’t find someone Elder Linsey would have thought I was crazy. We then just barely crossed the street and there was a guy walking towards us. I had a feeling that was the guy so I told Elder Linsey that was the guy we needed to talk to. I told Elder Linsey to talk to him because obviously I can’t speak German very well yet. So we started talking to him. He seemed really interested in what we had to say. I bore my testimony to him. And then the coolest thing happened. Right after I bore my testimony there was a silence... and he looks at both of us and says.. "You know what? I was thinking about God about 5 minutes ago..."  Elder Linsey and I looked at each other and just smiled. The reason I tell you that story because it felt cool following the prompting of the Holy Ghost and then seeing what happened. It was an amazing feeling and made me love people even more.

When we first got here, we got here at 8:30 a.m. Germany time. So we went to the main stake center in Frankfurt which is tiny. We had a meeting and then split up in groups and went Proselyting. It was such a neat experience and we saw how much people are caught into the worldly things... Without a cell phone you realize how much people are on their cell phones... It is crazy!!! Ha as a missionary you begin to realize and see all the little things that happen. It is so sad how people are so caught up in worldly things and people don’t notice it. I was definitely like that before but I will not be like that after my mission. Also, Germany is sooo humid.. haha I sweat so much too so I am wet where ever I go. But it has been so much fun. Our apartment gets really hot at night sleeping and everything.. So I just sleep without blankets. But it’s a good experience.

So yesterday, before sacrament meeting the Bishop of the ward asks me to bear my testimony in front of the ward.. I agreed. The Frederiksdorf ward is one of the biggest in the country with 150 members. So we went to Elders quorum.. I had no idea what was going on. Then Sunday school.. Again no clue. Then sacrament comes around and I bore my testimony... I have never felt so dumb in my life!! Haha I wasn’t scared at all to go up, I just butchered it and my German is awful!! Ha but all the members appreciated it. Thank goodness for Elder Linsey. He has helped me so much and is so patient with me.

The food is the best!!! I eat so much!!! The members are amazing cooks to so it makes it that much better. Dessert is awesome as well. I am going to be fat when I get home. Haha the time zone change has probably been the hardest. We are 8 hours ahead of Utah time so it has been really tough to change but I am about there.

Even though my German is terrible and I don’t understand anything. I am already having experiences here and it is so great doing missionary work. I love this gospel and I hope everyone is doing some kind of missionary work at home. I miss you all and hope you are doing well. For now, I love this work and wouldn’t change my life in any way then how it is now. Thanks for all the support. I love you all.

Bis Später

Elder Emery

 

Duetschlan​d Here I Come!

Finally, we have our travel plans and are headed to Germany on Tuesday. It’s crazy to think at this time next week I will be teaching the Gospel in German and I will be living there for 2 years. This experience here at the MTC has been awesome and I have learned so much about myself and who I want to be. First off, this week flew by!!! Ha I swear I was just barely writing to you guys yesterday.. But I am happy it’s flying because Mom is getting me so excited about Germany telling me all these stories. But I know it will come soon and I will be thrown into the work.

It’s funny though, some days I feel like I am not learning the language at all and it is super frustrating. Then other days I feel like I know a lot and can speak it well. I am enjoying learning the new language and it has definitely affected my English already because my mind is changing into Duetsch. Ha but on Monday, Elder Lassley had to perform in a devotional for the Elderly because he is amazing at violin so I went to class and it was our turn to teach our investigator the lesson. Sooo I had to teach the lesson all by myself.. I was super nervous but the gift of tongues is real and it was such a cool experience. I taught about how God has sent us to earth to learn and grow and how we have free agency to choose what we want. It went super well and I really enjoyed it. Because Elder Lassley is super good at German so it can be frustrating but it was a huge motivator boost for me to understand I can actually teach a lesson in German and being here for 5 weeks.

So more about our travel plans.. We leave on Tuesday morning and fly to Dallas first.. Then we will have 3 hours at the Dallas airport so that is when I will be giving you guys a call. It will be around 12:00-12:30.. And however much time I have, I have no clue. So just be ready on Tuesday around that time! I am so excited to finally go to Germany and get out of Utah.. It will be so much easier on me knowing I am in a whole different place then being 20 minutes from home! Haha

There really isn't much to write about the MTC.. Sunday devotion, Brother Gibbons who is like a story teller, came and told us the story of Joseph Smith from all the journals. I guess he had been studying journals for years now and came and acted it all out. It was really a cool experience because it strengthened my testimony about the Restoration and how much Joseph Smith went through. Also, last night’s devotional a guy by the name of Tad R. Callister from the 70 came and spoke to us. That was really cool to because he told us the similarities of the Book of Mormon and the New Testament and all the things we use in the church today. I will have to send home my notes or something or if you get the chance look him up. My favorite about being here at the MTC is hearing all the speakers and hearing everyone’s testimony. It has definitely been a huge testimony booster for me and I have learned so much. Being here and making a ton of new friends and being here all for the same reason has been very humbling. I have learned all my weaknesses and what I need to get better at.

Wednesdays have been crazy here at the MTC... There are SOOO many missionaries coming in and they are using the Raintree apartments down the road to put even more missionaries. The Lord is really hastening his work and I am so grateful to be a part of it. It is so crazy because there are so many people who speak different languages and have grown so much. It’s cool that we can all do it together. This Gospel is true.

The other day during gym time we all decided to go out to the field and play a little softball... Riley Ottesen would be proud for the way I was hitting the ball. I was smacking it. I think I got that from playing golf all my life. Ha jk! But it was really fun. So we were on defense and I was pitching.. So the girls I do under hand pitches and they were hitting them pretty well. Then Elder Carr who was from England I pitched over hand from far. He smacked it and it was a line drive right into my ankle..... I honestly thought I had broken my ankle after it hit. It hurt so bad but the swelling has gone down. I don't know how baseball players do it. It hurt really bad but I am totally fine. Nothing is broken and the swelling is going back down. I just thought it was funny because I had a feeling something like that was going to happen. But we don't have any more gym times and so I have been just hanging out. 

So dad got me big into quotes lately and I write all of them down. One of my favorite quotes this past week I heard is by Neal A. Maxwell which says, "Moments are the molecules that make up forever"......   As I thought about this quote it reminded me of when dad told me to just enjoy each stage of the mission and be optimistic about it. That quote is so true! We all need to live in the moment and just relax and enjoy it. Sometimes we look forward to future things and then time passes and we worry too much. Jackson always told me to live in the moment and enjoy it. Because it goes by really fast. I have never really understood that till I got here. I am telling you.. The MTC has taught me so much about the person I want to be and has really showed me about the person I am now. I have changed so much in the past month and I feel like a new me already. The MTC is such a great learning experience and like my dad and Brother say.. Enjoy the ride.

I have absolutely loved hearing from all of you. I am sorry if I haven’t written some people back but know I am very appreciative of everything everyone has done for me. And that I love you all so very much. My mom has taught me how to be optimistic and to love everyone. My family has been the most loving and supportive family for me and I really do appreciate it. I am doing really well. Next time I will write I will be in Germany and that is so weird to think. But I know the Lord has called me to Germany and there is a reason I am supposed to go there. I wouldn't change being out here on the mission for anything. This has been such an amazing ride and I love this Gospel so very much. I will bear a short testimony in German:

Ich weiss, dass die kirche Jesu Christi wahr ist.
Gott liebt uns, wir sind seine Kinder.Durch alle unser Prüfung, wir können von unser Sünde befreit werden.Ich liebe diese Evangelium Joseph Smith ist ein wahr Prophet.I liebe alle unser Segnungen.
Ich bin Dankbar für die Gelegenheit ein Mission zu dienen.
Ich sage diese dinge, im namen Jesu Christi, Amen

I love this Gospel, I know I am supposed to be out here for a reason. I am thankful for all my blessings in my life and I am grateful for such an amazing family. I am growing up so much and couldn't be happier. The decision on coming on a mission was the best decision I have ever made. I wouldn't change it for anything. I will talk to you on Tuesday On the Phone!!!!!

I love you all

Elder Emery

 

Nick and his best friend Talon! Nick wasn't able to pick him up, but he said right when Talon walked inside he jumped on him and gave him a huge hug. He said it was the highlight of his whole day!

These two sisters are in Nick's zone and are from Denmark:)