Training for the Last Two Transfers

Hey Mom!

We had transfer calls on Saturday, and I was called to train for my last two transfers. I am excited. I don´t think I would have had a huge problem with focusing anyway, but this will help me stay concentrated on the work since it is such a big responsibility. Unlike other training situations, I already know who I will be training. It is an Elder who was already in the mission being trained but had to leave the mission for a time, and now he is coming back into the field. That means I will kind of be re-training him, so that will be an adventure! I have heard from other missionaries who knew him that he is a really great guy and had a good impact on some members in the first area he was in. I will pick him up on Wednesday. In other news about transfers, Elder Hutchings is staying in Idar-Oberstein with his comp, Elder Monson from my district is heading to Gelsenkirchen and being replaced by an Elder Pratt, and Elder Norman is going to Erfurt. 

Well, we had an interesting week this week. We didn´t get to teach that many lessons because there were so many crazy things going on. On Monday, we had our typical P-day and then had FHE with our bishop and his family.

Tuesday consisted of helping a member family, the Clemens, build some furniture for their baby that will be coming shortly. We also had our English class, which is always good. 

We were in Dortmund for all of Wednesday to help the zone leaders move from one apartment to another. I feel bad for Elder Lyman, one of the zone leaders. He was excited about the new apartment (which is a lot nicer than the old one) and helped move everything and then just got called to be transferred to Essen. It is ok though, one of the Elders who was helping got called to replace him, so his work was not in vain haha. 

On Thursday, I went on a split with Elder Waterböhr. We stayed in Hagen and tried to go by on three different people. The first, a less-active couple, were on their way out the door, so we couldn´t meet with them. The second, an old investigator, was also on his way out the door, so we walked with him a ways to talk to him about his alcohol addiction, but we couldn´t do much there. The last go-by, a birthday go-by, was also not ideal. The whole family was sick, so we couldn´t go in and have a lesson. On top of all of that, it was raining all night, so we got soaked. It was kind of a slow, lame day. 

Friday was better. We headed to Dortmund for zone training, and there we did a lot of roleplays for teaching and talking to people in trains. We also had a question and answer session with our Stake President, Pres. Zarse. It was really cool and helpful. When we returned to Hagen in the evening, we met with the Rajahkumar family.They are originally from Sri Lanka, and Bruder Rajahkumar is part of the bishopric here. We had a really great appointment with them, and I learned a lot about the role of love and charity in helping people come unto Christ. 

Saturday was a busy day. The Elders in Siegen had a baptism, and it took place in our chapel since their chapel is lacking a baptismal font. We got everything ready for them in the morning, and then had the baptism around 12:30. It went well, and one of our investigators, Manuella, was there. I think she enjoyed it. After the baptism and a little lunch put together by some members, we had a lesson with Manuella about why bad things happen to good people and why Joseph Smith was persecuted and killed. She brought up that concern in the last lesson, so we resolved it at this lesson. After that appointment and some studies, we had our classic Bruder Kramer appointment on Saturday. Those are always fun.

On Sunday, we had Elder Norman´s goodbye testimony. He was really sad to be leaving. Hagen is a cool area. After church, we met with a less-active family for lunch and then with Pres. Zarse and his family for dinner. He lives in our area, which is really cool. It is the first time I have had the stake president in my ward on the mission. He is a really helpful and loving man. 

Well, that was about it for the week. Not too crazy, but still alright. Today for Pday, we are going to Dortmund to visit Primark (best store ever) as well as a BVB Fanstore so I can get some cool stuff for everyone. It will be a lot of fun. 

I hope you have a really great week! Love you!

LG, Daniel