Ausgezeichnet

July 15, 2008

Well, it's halfway through the month and our new mission president hasn't turned the mission upside down...yet, who knows, in two weeks are transfers. And then we'll see.

Actually He's really cool. A lot different from President Webb. President Ninow is 20 years younger. We had our first Zone Conference and he gave a really good talk. He's pretty hardcore. I'm excited.

On the other hand I'm doing great. I came to a realization the other day about how awesome living the life of a missionary is- even if you had nobody to teach.
Let me break it down for you:
1) I don't get graded on my German,
2) I don't have to do better than my companion
3) I don't have to worry about a job
4) or girls
5-100) Basically anything that makes life troublesome is no longer part of the picture.

I could dance the day through. Too bad I don't have my tap shoes (that's a joke, don't send me my tap shoes, It would probably drive my companion crazy)

Anyhow, I've always got a miracle for you- I see one just about every day, but I'm too lazy to type them all down, so you just get the big one of the week.

This is about a cool guy we met. He was with one of our newer members and sooo naturally we got to know him. He's American and been living in Heidelberg for the summer (perhaps you heard about him from the guys down there.) He's been investigating the church, however he's not like other investigators. First he found the church on his own, second he already has a testimony of the church. The problem right now is that he's not really in a stable position to get baptized- he lives in America, not Germany. But we did take him to the temple yesterday, did a tour there. He's just ready, he wants it. He loves the Lord he loves Christ and he wants to learn everything he can. Furthermore, when he learns, he acts on it. For him, there's not really a distinction between faith and knowledge. It's quite an amazing experience to meet such a person as him.

Lots of fun,
Family: have fun in Cancun,
Others: have fun...doing whatever.

Mucho luvo

Elder McDonald

A week of miracles

I have an awesome story about the Polish couple I mentioned last week.

We went in for our second appointment on Wednesday. (A member also came with us) as we walked in I saw a book that was about halfway open- it also had a blue cover. It crossed my mind that it possibly could be the Book of Mormon, I had no doubt that they read, but it couldn't be, that book was 100 pages in. As the member goes to look at it, she points and says, “I love Alma”. I was shocked and amazed. They had only had the Book of Mormon for three days. We said a prayer, and then we asked them how the reading went. The wife held the book close and said: “It's like bread, I can't get enough of it, It's the light in my life I've been searching for.” The husband said that he knew it was true. Then the wife said that she'd have to correct a few things, namely smoking- before we talked about baptism, word of wisdom or anything. Really the Holy Ghost is teaching them everything they need to know. So naturally we committed them to baptism and they accepted. They just have to kick smoking (they basically have already) and get married. Really though, they are the best people ever.

If it was always this easy, missionary work would be a piece of cake.

Much love, stay strong.

Elder McDonald

Leider dass deutchland kein Meister ist :(

Leider dass deutchland kein Meister ist :(

It's too bad that Germany isn't the maseter :(

German flag courtesy of 4 International Flags

Yes, we came in second place. I was sad, but also a little relieved. If Germany had won, we'd be seeing a lot of drunks.

I never know what to write. I'm just not a big e-mail person. Actually I'm not a big mail person period. But man, the Lord's been keeping us on our toes, and by that I mean the Lord's been keeping us busy.

For the record, yes I'm still in Darmstadt and I'm still with Elder Thorne.

So we've had some pretty good success; for example we found an old class mate of a member and she's really interested. The wife of a member is also really interested. She's been reading and really wants to know if it's true.

But most awesomest of all is this Polish couple. They came up to us and asked us how they get in contact with the church, so we set up an appointment for Sunday. When we got there the woman started off talking about how she's been on the search for the truth her whole life. We taught the lesson, and at the end she kept on saying "I think it's true, I believe that it could be true- that's only my opinion but still I think it could be." We just smiled, and to top it off, we were unlocking our bikes and Elder Thorne asked the man if they had anything planned. He said he didn't, then paused and said,"Reading. We're going to read the day long."

Well, I'm doing great over here. I hope all's well back home. Love you all und bis aufswiedersehen.

Elder McDonald