Monday, July 21, 2014

Frankfurt

Wow, makes me happy that you all had a great week! I would say the same thing that it was a really good week here in Germany. I would say for me it was one of the slowest weeks on my mission by far because I was not able to do anything. But what was cool is that I got to study quite a lot and really just find out who I really am. I loved it anyways. But that makes me happy that you are doing good.

First off, like I said before, this whole week my foot was actually really swollen for some reason and the doctors kept telling me to stay down. And you all know me, I can’t sit in the same place for a long time or else I go crazy. But I would say I did pretty good for the most part. But the times I did get up was when my foot would swell up and get all big and disgusting. haha funny story… One day after zone training some missionaries were going to go eat. And here is the funny but sad thing. Elder Lovelace (My old Comp) last Monday was playing volleyball with the Elders and Sisters. He jumped up to hit the ball and came down and messed up his knee, so him and I were actually together the whole week. My companion just went with his two companions. It was actually really good because we had a lot of really good talks about Gospel Doctrine and just about life in general. It was actually really solid. But by the weekend him we were back up and good to go. I will mainly tell you about what happened this weekend in my email.

Saturday I was able to go on a split with one of our district leaders.  What is funny is that he speaks absolutely no English. He is from Switzerland and was born here in Germany. So during language study I actually helped him with his English. That day we had 3 different lessons planned. I was so stoked because I had just been sitting and doing nothing the whole week before. Each lesson was very special and so spiritual for some reason. I also loved being out because I could talk to people on the streets. I don’t know what it was but we were going on this stretch of about 100 yards and I contacted about 10 people in 5 minutes and gave out 2 Book of Mormons. I missed that feeling the whole week! Ha, but we taught about some solid truths about the Gospel. It is sad because each lesson we had was with inactive people. They have problems with people in the Church but they know the Church to be true. Sounds really dumb but that’s just how it is. They take everything really serious and they honestly are not fully converted to the gospel. IF we are converted to the Gospel we will go to church no matter the circumstances. The people of the Church are not perfect but the Gospel is perfect. It brings happiness when we live it. I know that to be true. All three lessons were really good and we were just bold with them. It was cool to get out of the apartment and office for a while. By the end of the day though I was absolutely dead. It’s one thing speaking German with your companion because we sound a lot alike when we talk. But being with a German that speaks as fast as he does really just drains the energy right out of you. It was really good and I really enjoyed that split.
 
Yesterday we were able to go to church and teach the primary class. That was a lot of fun! The kids are so funny and some of the things they say are really funny. We talked about the Holy Ghost and did a little activity with it. We asked the question, "What do we learn from this activity"? and one kid screamed, "Nothing"! haha I laughed, straight comedy! So that was good. Another really cool thing that happened was that a recent convert today was able to come to church and brought his wife and daughter. But what was really special is that he actually received the Priesthood. He absolutely loved it. He got a certificate and he was showing all the members and just smiling.

I know this Gospel brings happiness. Sometimes I don’t understand everything right there and then. But through time the Lord really does bless us. He helps us understand through time what we need to do in order to receive the full blessings of the Gospel! I have really learned in the past few weeks to just to trust in the Lord’s plan for me. Even when I don’t understand why things happen. But the trust that I have in the Lord and in missionary work is continuing to go up and I love it. I love this work. I know that we are all children of God. I have a strong testimony about our attitudes of life. When we decide to be happy and look at all the positive things of life, that’s when the Lord can bless us! Thanks for everything. I wish you guys a blessed week.

Elder Emery

Monday, July 14, 2014

World Cup Champs!!!



What a week for sure here in Frankfurt. The time was fast but the pain was there. This week was full of a lot of good things. And it was for sure a very fast week as well. I am happy that everything is going well with you and that you are happy. That makes me feel so much better every week to hear about that.

Germany takes world cup!!! It was absolutely crazy here last night. We were not able to watch the game here because it was on at 10:00pm. But still we were up the whole time because of how loud it was and the people screaming and stuff. It was actually such a cool atmosphere to be in because whenever there would be a shot on goal or a nice save all of Frankfurt would go crazy.. It was such a cool experience. A member was giving us updates on the game.. We knew overtime and also the second overtime.. But what was seriously a really cool thing was we were about to both fall asleep then Germany scored.. And the city went absolutely nuts.. Everyone screamed all at once and it was so sick!! It reminded me of when the Marriot Center is packed and something huge happens and everyone just goes nuts.. It was that feeling and so I ran outside real quick with my camera and filmed it. I will have to send it home somehow.. That was so sweet! Then of course when the game ended it was a loud roar again! Then for the next hour we just heard lots of honking and screaming and fireworks and people going absolutely nuts! It was so cool being here for the world cup! Because every day that is the only thing people would talk about.. So it was a good contacting tool! Amazing experience that I will never forget!!!! 

This week we had interviews with President Stoddard. What an incredible man. It was really quite awesome. Each interview was only about 15 minutes but it was really good. He loves what he does and really cares about this missionary work. He is so caring and so loving and so that was really cool to see and to get to know him better. I was able to talk to him a lot this week so that was cool but also a rough thing because yet again my toes are messed up.

Long story short.. I was in my interview and I was telling him about my toes and how they have been really bugging me. I was planning on just waiting it out till they grew out but I showed them to him and he immediately was very concerned and knew that I needed to get them fixed. After talking with 5 different doctors here I had surgery on Thursday in Heidelberg. It went really good. The only problem is that I will be out of commission for the next week.. So that is a bummer. But they did all they could and that is what matters.
This week was good. We did a lot of finding and stuff. I was also able to get a lot of studies in and so that was really good. I love reading the scriptures and pondering about them. A lot of good things were learned. I learned such a big lesson this week and that was patience.. Sometimes I just want to go, go, go but then something happens and I get frustrated. But I have learned just to take things how they are. It is okay to take care of our bodies. I love being busy and so you could bet how this weekend was just sitting around and not doing anything.. It was really rough for me. But I learned that everything will be okay.

Another thing I learned as I was pondering about the old days and as I have been here in Germany. It is so important to surround yourself with good people. The people you surround yourself with are the way you are going to act. It is so important for us to choose good friends and to be able to stick up for what we believe. It is also important that we are converted and living the Gospel instead of just going to church and not getting anything out of it. We need to think about others and not ourselves. That brings happiness. And we can choose the way we react to things.

I love you all. I hope you have a great week and you find someone to serve this week. The time keeps going faster and faster. I miss you dearly but I know this is the work of the Lord and I am grateful I get to be a part of it.

Elder Emery


Tuesday, July 8, 2014

President Stoddard

Ha what a week it was for all of us! Sounds like Jax and Cherese had a great time in Disney world. I can't believe how fast time is going. The weeks turn into days and it's going by really fast. This week was a solid one for us. A ton of different things happened and so I hope I can get everything in I want to say.
 
This week we had another Zone Conference with our new Mission President, President Stoddard. What an incredible man and also just such a very humble, hard worker. It is amazing whom the Lord chooses for his Mission Presidents. I swear all of them are just perfect people and are super successful in what they do. He talked to us a lot about just our attitude on life. How that is one thing we can choose and when we choose to be happy we are more capable of receiving blessings because we are always thinking positive. He talked to us for a couple hours and Sister Stoddard talked about their family. Overall it was just really cool. I have talked to him quite a lot actually and he is a great man.
 
Our investigator from Ghana got baptized last week! It was such an awesome experience. My companion Elder Baker actually baptized him. It has been super cool teaching him from the beginning and seeing his progress in the gospel. His wife and his little 2-year old daughter came. She is so fun to be around. She loved it when her dad got submerged in the water. His wife is not yet interested in the gospel but she said she loved seeing how many blessings their family is receiving since he has been meeting with us. Ghanaians are just so open to the gospel and they love religion. Also, I think they are just more humble in general. That was really such a cool experience to see him get baptized. The Lord has really blessed me for having been part of these 5 baptisms I have seen on my mission. Every single one of them had a huge impact on me and have kept me going. It really is a blessing to see sons and daughters of God accept the gospel. I am just lucky to have been a part of those and humbled for sure. That is what the mission does to you. Just changes your whole nature. So that has been pretty cool.
 
My mission has been the best thing that could have ever happened to me. My biggest convert on my mission has been me. I have learned so much about the Gospel and about the Atonement so much. It has been such a blessing. One thing that I have learned a lot on my mission apart from Attitude is how important it is to surround yourself with good people. The people around you have a really big influence on what you do as a person. It may not seem like that but the people I admire most are really loving and caring people. It has been awesome. Another thing I have learned is how important it is to have an open heart. A lot of people are closed off to the spirit. Or when someone corrects them they really get upset. When you really think about it, it is being prideful because you think you are better then everyone else. But when we truly trust in people and what they say we can be blessed and will be blessed forever because that is how we learn. We can’t see some of our faults sometimes. That is why we come to earth is to learn and to grow. So we need to be open. Some big things I have learned on my mission.
 
A spiritual thought that I would like to share with you this week. Moroni 10:8-19. It talks about the Gift of the Spirit. When we enter into the waters of baptism we are entering into a covenant. When we live righteously we are worthy to receive the gifts of the Holy Ghost. The spirit is what keeps us going as missionaries. We are nothing without the Spirit. Especially in the last two weeks I have really learned a lot by the Spirit. It speaks differently to everyone. But those are some really cool verses about the Spirit.
 
I love you all and hope you have a splendid week. I am doing really good and pushing forward and working harder then I ever have before.
 
Elder Emery



The Clements were the Senior Couple in Darmstadt.. They are the greatest! Saw them at Zone Conference.