The Final Email

December 12, 2016

Dear Friends and Family,

   I thought that I would write my first group email, the last week of the mission. Perhaps I should have started this type of emailing earlier as well, but cannot change the past I guess.

   Over the past two years, I have been able to meet a lot of people I did not ever think I would get to meet before my mission. Such as meeting someone who believed she was visited by aliens in her apartment, or meeting a German who did not use any technology except his bicycle, and last but not least people who have become life long friends to me.

   I have seen many things on my mission that I wish I had not seen in my life, let alone my mission, however on the flip side of that I have also seen many things which were absolutely breathtaking and things which made me marvel in wonder.

   I have learned a few things on my mission, one of them is that I am not a fan of bicycles on my mission. From flying over my handle bars right before church and ripping a suit, to the 7 other times being in bicycle accidents. I think I will take a break from bicycles for a while after my mission.

   However, on a more spiritual note, I have learned so much about the gospel and the many blessing that are in store for us when we are worthy and ready for them. I have also learned patience for answers to prayers, because sometimes the best answer for you is yet to be discovered. I have also learned perseverance and working hard.

   On my mission whenever I was having a difficult time, I would usually say one of two things to myself under my breath:

   First: "when the times get tough, the tough get going!"

   Second: a scripture from the Book of Mormon, Jacob 6:5 “Wherefore, my beloved brethren, I beseech of you in words of soberness that ye would repent, and come with full purpose of heart, and cleave unto God as he cleaveth unto you. And while his arm of mercy is extended towards you in the light of the day, harden not your hearts.”

   These two things have helped me get through the hardest of times I have experienced on my mission.

   Now I will not say that they were a perfect two years, or that I did everything right that I was supposed to, however they really were the best two years of my life. The past two years have been really something special and I wouldn't trade my mission for the world. Although I have not baptized thousands of people, it doesn't bother me, I am satisfied knowing that I have been able to help people come closer to Christ and that is the purpose of being a missionary for Jesus Christ.

   I know that Christ lives and that he loves us very much. Although this mission is ending another begins and I am excited for it to start and see if I can do some good during it as well. I love all of God's children and I can say that full heartedly even when they have yelled at me or called me not so nice things, because I have experienced it several times over the past two years. I know that God loves his missionaries and even though most of us are very young and know relatively little about life, he can make them into great tools for bringing souls unto Christ. I bear this testimony in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Sincerely,

Elder Spencer Fisher

Elder Fisher at the Christmas market

Elder Fisher’s letter to his parents:

Well, I guess this is it. I cannot believe that is finally coming to an end, it is a bitter sweet.

I saw the Christmas markets I wanted to see.

A member took pictures of the baptism yesterday and I will send the picture tomorrow so that you can have it.

Cannot wait to see you Friday.

Scripture of the week: Ether 15:34 “Now the last words which are written by Ether are these: Whether the Lord will that I be translated, or that I suffer the will of the Lord in the flesh, it mattereth not, if it so be that I am saved in the kingdom of God. Amen.”

Quote of the week: "You're going home!" Everyone in the Germany Berlin Mission

Cannot wait to see you on Friday!

Love ya

Elder Fisher

Elder Fisher and Elder Bullion
with their investigator/new member

The pre-baptism picture

Add caption

Leadership Training Meeting

Leadership Training Meeting--Western half of Germany Berlin mission

Next to Last E-Mail

December 5, 2016

   The work goes good, we have a baptism coming up this next Sunday, so that is pretty cool. I went through the baptismal interview questions with our investigator and it was super cool to hear that someone is so prepared.

   We didn't go on companion exchanges this past week but we will be this coming week. I like learning and getting to know other missionaries on exchanges a lot, it is just a good time. My favorite meal was when we visited a family that made us mac and cheese and then some Italian dessert.

   The person who took the picture from last week was a member from Texas. He served in Germany a while ago and was here with his wife to visit and that was Elder Bullion in the picture. That picture was taken right next to our Christmas market here in Lauenburg.  We were able to visit three Christmas markets last week and that was really fun. We are visiting another one this week.

   Germans are kind of into putting up Christmas lights like Americans do but more than anything they just put things in their window sills and decorations in their house as well.

   You asked about my favorite thing about Germany--I love Germany landscape and the many colors in the sky in the fall and spring and just everything that is here.

   The German people value education a lot more than most teenagers that I grew up with. Also the people are very honest and blunt. Also they still hold to a lot of traditions and stuff like that. I really love the German people and have really enjoyed the time I was able to spend here.

   Scripture of the day: Malachi 3:10 “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.”

   Quote of the day: "This Christmas season I invite you to seek opportunities to “Light the World.” David A. Bednar

Love you and hope you have a good week.

Love,

Elder Fisher

Thankgiving, Zone Conference, and Finishing Strong

November 28, 2016

   Well, glad to hear that you had a good turkey day, and that you did not over eat too much on that day as well. I really hope that the missionaries were able to have a good time at the house too--I know that spending the holidays with the members is always a fun time for the missionaries and I hope that it is for the members as well.

The weather has been pretty cold here and I cannot wait to have a short hit of warmth when I am home for a few weeks, I like the cold but working and doing stuff in it all day, every day is not my idea of fun.

   For Thanksgiving, we had a combined Zone Conference that they called “Ho Ho Zo Co” because it combines Zone Conference and the mission Christmas celebrations.  I really enjoyed it. For the zone conference part, they talked about a lot of stuff that will be happening with the mission next transfer so I listened to it but the whole time I was just kind of thinking, this stuff will have absolutely no part of my mission, so that was kind of weird to realize.  For dinner, they fed us potatoes, red cabbage, and pork. Very german, very good. 1) For our German Thanksgiving meal, we had potatoes, red cabbage, and pork. Classic German meal. Yes ma'am I got the packages that you sent for my birthday as part of the celebration and all of the food is gone already, between sharing it with other missionaries and all that fun stuff too.

   The work is going good over here and I am enjoying it for the most part.  This past week, my two favorite lessons to teach: we taught the 5th lesson in Preach my Gospel and we went through the first lesson with our baptismal candidate this past week. That is always good. We had companionship exchanges this past week with the elders in Bergedorf and I was with Elder Drazin who is an Elder from the same group as me and that was fun, we have served together a few times on the mission and we are pretty good friends.

My German is good—however, it depends, because everywhere in Germany, there are    different dialects and different words they use for different things, so I understand most German in a certain area of Germany, however if I were to go two hours southeast of here, I would understand very little of what they are saying. My companion’s German is pretty good, so that makes life easy, he has trouble at times understanding the members here because he has heard a different kind of German his whole mission so he is used to something completely different than what they speak here.

   My favorite thing to study this past week was writing a lot of stuff for finishers (mom note: missionaries who are close to leaving) about what I learned on my mission and the lessons I have learned on the mission and all that stuff that I give to President in Freiberg when I finish, it has given me time to really reflect and think about my mission a lot. It was nice.

   For Pday, we are going to practice instruments and play foosball and that kind of stuff at the church.

   They did not really announce tithing settlements but the active German members are pretty 

active about going to the Bishop about that kind of stuff I think.

   I hope that you have a good week too, and just so you know my plan for my last Pday, I am just going to send a mass email to everyone about what I have learned on the mission and feeling about the last two years and calling it good. If you have any questions you want to ask me you can, but I do not think I will feel too much like writing my last Pday on the mission between packing and taking care of stuff for coming home. Just so you know my plan.

   Scripture of the week: Luke 2:10 “And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.”

   Quote of the week: "We can feel joy even while having a bad day, a bad week, or even a bad year!" Russell M. Nelson

Love,

Elder Fisher

Elder Fisher and Elder Bullion next to the Christmarket in Lauenburg.
A tourist took this picture and sent it by e-mail to Elder Fisher's parents.

This is the picture from "Ho Ho Zo Co" in Hamburg---can you find Elder Fisher?

This is the picture from the "Ho Ho Zo Co" in Berlin

Moving a Piano, German Pastries, and Member Referrals

November 21, 2016

   Well dad, I do not remember how mom's homemade pies even taste so HA! I will think of you while I eat Germany pastries and by fresh bread from the bakeries that are on every corner here.  We will be having our zone conference in Hamburg Wartenau ward on Thanksgiving day and we will be eating some German food, I do not know which ones yet.

   This past week we went to Lüneburg and helped move a piano down from the second story of the apartment building and then moved the piano up to the upstairs of the person’s house we moved it to, needless to say I was slightly sore after that service activity but the brother gave us a referral afterwards so that was really cool.

   What I love about this ward is now that the ward trust us a lot, we are averaging getting one referral a week which is extremely difficult in Germany, let alone in a small town area with very few people in it. I would say that that is my favorite thing about this area. I have not had any companion exchanges recently but we are planning to do a few this week, we will see if they actually happen or not.

   I feel like I have been reading in 3 Nephi for the past several weeks, but I read in German and really try to understand everything the Savior taught the Nephites very clearly and understand the commentary that Mormon writes as well so I enjoy that.

   Scripture of the week: 3 Nephi 26:13 “Therefore, I would that ye should behold that the Lord truly did teach the people, for the space of three days; and after that he did show himself unto them oft, and did break bread oft, and bless it, and give it unto them.”

Quote of the week: "He is the Gift" Christmas initiative from two years ago.

Love you and I hope that you have a good week and enjoy your Thanksgiving feasts!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Love,

Elder Fisher

Birthday, Focusing on Missionary Work, and Abendbrot

November 14, 2016

   For my birthday, we had dinner at a member’s home. We had Abendbrot which consists of bread, butter, cheese, and meats. It is one of my favorite things about Germany and I will definitely be missing it as well when I am not here anymore. We also had something called Grünkohl this past week and Schweinfleisch, and Kartoffeln, another very classic northern German winter meal.

It's snow time!!

   My new companion is Elder Bullion and he is from Tennessee and has lived in Kentucky as well, he is a convert of about 4 years now, he is REALLY into music and wants to go into music education as well. Before the mission he graduated high school and he also worked for some sort of factory and that is how he paid for his mission.

   Our plans for Pday are once again, emails, lunch, and naps.

   So we are going to have Zone Conference on Thanksgiving and they do usually make us food, but it is not a Thanksgiving traditional meal but a traditional German meal. I will be getting my packages on Thanksgiving.

   We met a very nice lady from Ghana this past week and we taught her the first lesson.

The Christmas Markets will be up in a couple weeks here and we will be going to go and see them and I am super excited to see them again, I love these markets.

   The investigators are coming along pretty good, we are hoping to get at least one in the water before I head out and so we are working on it. The companion and I are doing pretty good, I knew him from my MTC group.  I think that we have both changed since the MTC. I am trying to make the last few weeks good by not thinking about going home. I have actually gotten a lot better since my last companion left since all he talked about was home and kept saying that I am going home soon. I liked my last companion but that made it difficult to focus.

   It sound like the missionaries are doing some work over there, I would love to stay in California just to help them get people to church and stuff--that is a huge thing I am going to miss after my mission, missionary work. I know I can still do it, but it won't be the same.

Scripture of the week: 3 Nephi 17: 21 “And when he had said these words, he wept, and the multitude bare record of it, and he took their little children, one by one, and blessed them, and prayed unto the Father for them.

Quote of the week "whom the Lord calls, he qualifies." Thomas S. Monson

Love,

Spencer

Staying in Lauenburg, a Birthday Dinner in Germany, and Sharing the Gospel

November 7, 2016

   Well, my week was busy (and very chilly).  I hope that you are enjoyed your first Break the Fast as the singles ward bishop as well, those were good memories for me when I was in that ward. It sounds like you had fun decorating the tree at the temple for Christmas

   The past transfer was a good one (mom note: a transfer is usually 6 weeks), we had a baptism so that always makes it better. My current companion will be leaving and I will staying to finish my mission in the Lauenburg area.  My companion will be someone who was in my MTC group who extended his mission an extra transfer.  I am pretty excited to be staying because we have another person we are going to try to set up for a baptismal date for the 3 of December!

   I haven’t gotten my birthday cards and packages yet…I will be getting the packages at the end of November at the Zone Conference, so on Thanksgiving day, I will have my packages.  On my birthday, my companion and I ate at a member’s house on my birthday and she made us Knödel (dumplings) and Rotkohl (red cabbage) and Schweinfleisch (pork). Then for dessert we ate a lemon cake which was really good.

   I have been reading in 3 Nephi this past week and really have enjoyed that.  This week we went finding in Lüneburg and Schwarzenbek and a couple other places.

   So this past week we got a referral from a member and this referral is named P____.  He came to church and we have already taught him the first two lessons and he believes a lot of it is true and he asked us about baptism, we did not even bring baptism up until he mentioned it in the first lesson with him. He is really amazing, even the member who referred him was shocked at how prepared he is!

   Scripture for the week 3 Nephi 11:5-7 “ And again the third time they did hear the voice, and did open their ears to hear it; and their eyes were towards the sound thereof; and they did look steadfastly towards heaven, from whence the sound came. And behold, the third time they did understand the voice which they heard; and it said unto them:  Behold my Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, in whom I have glorified my name--hear ye him.”

   Quote of the week: "If you miss the fun, you miss it all" Jeffery R. Holland

Hope that you have a great week!!

Love,

Elder Fisher

Missionary Exchanges and Birthday Plans

October 31, 2016

   The week was good, we had exchange and I was with Elder Matis and he is a good friend of mine, someone I will stay in touch with after the mission as well. I will be eating at a members house on my birthday, and she loves America so I will probably be eating cake this Friday. I will probably get the box you sent at the end of November because that is when we have our next zone conference so we can get our mail.

   I have been studying in 3 Nephi and I prepare lessons that I give every week in District meeting which takes a little bit of my studies away. My favorite lesson to teach this week was probably the fifth lesson in Preach My Gospel because that is the only lesson that I personally taught this week. I met a lady from Ghana this past week who knew the church on the streets on exchange.

   Our ward hasn't had any activities yet, however we do have one the 12th of November and we will be raking leaves, so that will be pretty fun.

   The next transfer is coming up this next week, we will be getting our call this coming Saturday what will be happening, then I will tell you guys next Monday what actually happens.

   Scripture of the week: John 6:67-68  “Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?  Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life.”

   Quote of the week: David A. Bednar "Believing Him with our whole soul comes as we press forward along the covenant pathway, surrender our will to His, and submit to His priorities and timing for us."

Thank you for the Birthday wish and I will make sure to eat some Kuchen on my Birthday.

Love,

Elder Spencer Fisher

Baptism Day and Missionary Referrals

October 24, 2016

   I am doing good over here and the work is going good.  I am enjoying everything for the most part, we had a couple of slow weeks but the next few weeks look like they will be better though. The bishop of our ward here gave us a referral this weekend and will be giving us another one here pretty soon, and another member also wants to give us a referral to teach as well, so that is very exciting for this area, especially since it is a lot of smaller towns and normally harder to get ward members to refer people for us to teach or to even go by on.

Baptism day

   We had a baptism on Saturday so that was pretty good. The baptism was for a 10 year old Greek child whose father started coming back to church and he wanted us to start teaching his son. He was baptized by his father and he is really happy to be baptized and a member of the church. He also told us that when he gets older, he wants to serve a mission in England.

Baptism day--with the Elders

   My companion and I are doing fine, we think we might stay together for a third transfer and he will send me home, but we will find out in a week what happens. For p-day we will be enjoying Lauenburg and meeting with our new convert as well.

   We did not have any eating appointments this past week, we had two exchanges with missionaries though so we were still very busy. For one of the exchanges, the elder that I worked with took 8 years of French and started learning Arabic before he came out on his mission, so that was cool to learn about.

   Companion study we pretty much plan our appointments for the day. For personal study I read in the Book of Mormon then prepare a lesson that I have to give every week at district meeting. I studied a lot about prophets this past week and that was really interesting. That was really nice of you to have the sisters and the investigator over for dinner, I am sure that they appreciated that very much, and I am sure that you and dad will know the missionaries a lot more during his time as a bishop.

   The weather is turning cold, and I am not overly ecstatic about it getting cold either. I miss the California weather for fall and winter sometimes, to be completely honest. Yes the weather does look like it will be getting colder as well, which I am not overly excited about, since we are riding our bikes most places now.

   Scripture of the week Helaman 16: 23  “And notwithstanding the signs and the wonders which were wrought among the people of the Lord, and the many miracles which they did, Satan did get great hold upon the hearts of the people upon all the face of the land.”

Quote of the week: "Do it" Spencer W. Kimball

   Thank you for the pictures that you send, I really do enjoy them even when I do not say that every week. I do not really have too much else to say but I hope that you have a good week.

Love,

Elder Spencer Fisher

Winter weather, Lauenburg, the role of missionaries

October 17, 2016

   Well the cooler weather also means no sunshine, and I am speaking from experience now, the sun does not shine here in the summer and I think that is part of the reason that we are so tired.

   Lauenburg is very small, my smallest town yet. It is 100 Kilometers long so about 62 miles long and it is only small towns, the biggest place in our whole area is about 40,000 people living in it and most of them are college students. It is a very village like feel, very beautiful here, but it is nothing to exciting that goes on here.

   For P-day we are not doing anything too spectacular because, like I said there is nothing to exciting to do here. I did not get to meet someone that interesting this past week but we did get to teach someone about the commandments and someone else about the 5th lesson, she wasn't too interested, but she was an eight year old girl so it was understandable.

   We do not have any other responsibilities in the ward besides missionary work which is really nice actually. We are having a baptism this coming weekend and we are really excited for that and really happy for it.

   Scripture of the Week: 1 Corinthians 2:2 “Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be like minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.”

   Quote of the week: "The missionaries are there to help others come closer to Christ." Member of the stake presidency here.

Take care and enjoy your week.

Love,

Elder Spencer Fisher

Enduring to the End, Scripture Study, and Greek Casserole

October 10, 2016

   We taught a few lessons this past week and they were all really good I think and I received a lot of good ideas for life and such things and just activities I can do with the gospel. It is an odd thing to learn I guess but it is really good to learn.

   My favorite meal this past week was a Greek casserole dish that was really really good, and I have no idea what was actually inside it either.  Today for Pday we have a Lunch appointment with a member and other than that, to get my companion a haircut. 

   I am trying not to be trunky but it can be really hard sometimes.   I have been studying just about everything, the Book of Mormon, Ensign articles, and Doctrine and Covenants with a few other things here and there at night to help strengthen me.

   Scripture of the week: Helaman5:12 “And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.

Quote of the week: "forget yourself and get to work" Gordon B. Hinkley

Love you dad, I wish you a good week and a good start to being a Bishop!

Love,

Elder Spencer Fisher

Thoughts on General Conference

October 3, 2016

   I really did love conference! I thought it was a really amazing experience and they focused on helping people and being happy for the most part I think. I really enjoyed Elder Hales’ talk, I have actually gotten very fond of his talks and character while on the mission. I also noticed he was able to stand up this conference so that was very good to see. I watched conference in the stake center here in Hamburg and that was really good. We watched every session except for one (the last one) so we got most of it this past weekend and we will be watching the rest of the conference this week sometime. We didn't get together to eat with the other missionaries but we got something to go so we can have food in our stomachs as we traveled and we got a bag of knock off Twix candies for our enjoyment.

   The week was pretty good and I enjoyed it except for a few fallen out appointments. We did not do any exchanges this past week but we did go with them to the stake center to watch conference so we got to spend some time with them. This past week we also went to a place called Bad Bevensen and Schwarzenbek. Other than that we did not get around to much.

   Our plans for P day today are to clean and nap or read because it is a holiday in Germany called Tag der Deutschen Einheits so everything is closed. This Holiday is for the coming together after the Cold War ended and it was again one Germany.

   My companion and I are doing well and we are still getting along. I am happy to be staying together with my companion, we are extremely different people but we get along pretty well. I think I can work with just about anyone in the mission field at this point because in the worst case scenario I know when the companionship will end at the latest. I think my companion is trying to get me trunky though, I mostly just want to eat American food though, and Mexican food.

   Luckily I read dad’s email first before I read your email mom and I cannot help to say that I chuckled a little bit that dad will be the Bishop of the singles ward (mom note: one of our favorite family movies is The Singles Ward). I think you both will enjoy it. I wish you both the best of luck starting next week.

   Scripture of the week:  Doctrine and Covenants 18:12-13 “And he hath risen again from the dead, that he might bring all men unto him, on conditions of repentance. And how great is his joy in the soul that repenteth!”

Quote of the week :"Saints are a joyful people" President Nelson.

I love you wish you a wonderful week.

Love,

Elder Spencer Fisher

October 12, 2016 Hamburg Zone TrainingThe

The Hamburg Zone on October 12th

Lauenburg, Hamburg, Luneburg, Frieberg

September 26, 2016

   Sounds like you had quite a full week! I hope you were able to enjoy it as well. I can hardly believe how old my niece and nephew are becoming, they will be completely different people when I get home I think.

   We are both staying in Lauenburg and the work is going good, almost all of our appointments this past week fell out though, so that was sad.

   We ate at two houses this week and both of them made us chili for the food. Another member we met with gave us American chocolate cake which actually tasted American and was super good. Other than that, we did not have any eating appointments.

   For P-day today, I will be visiting Hamburg and doing a little bit of sight-seeing there. Other than that, I do not have any plans.  The farm house I took a picture of was in a really small village with like 500 residence and I do not remember the name. The church in the pictures was in a place called Lüneburg in our area, which is also where we bought the Reese’s Pieces.  There is a store there that has a lot of American things that they sell there but it is still a German store.

   We are able to go to the Frieberg Temple when we have a new convert, a reactivated person come with us, and we are able to tour the temple with an investigator as well.

   Elder Gerlach’s (his missionary trainer/1^st companion in Germany) plans for when he gets back are to go on a date to General Conference and then after that he will be going to BYU Provo and studying there.

   That is too bad that Brother H_____ passed away, he was like a grandpa to me, or at least I felt like that. However I know he has a great work to do on the other side now and that he is no longer in pain.

   Scripture of the week: Helaman 3:26 “And it came to pass that the work of the Lord did prosper unto the baptizing and uniting to the church of God, many souls, yea, even tens of thousands.”

   Quote of the week: Spencer W. Kimball “A year ago now I was in Japan and Korea, and … I seemed to envision a great movement when there would be thousands of local men prepared and anxious and strong to go abroad. … I seemed to envision again Mexican youth and Latins from Central and South America in great numbers qualifying themselves for missionary service within their own country and then finally in other lands until the army of the Lord’s missionaries would cover the earth as the waters cover the mighty deep.” (April 1974)

Love you and hope that you have a great week and everything.

Love,

Elder Fisher

Zone Meeting Picture.

Busy!!

September 19, 2016

A church in Luneburg

   I have less than 3 months left on my mission but I am not trunky (mom note: trunky is when you are so excited to go home that you can no longer concentrate on missionary work). I am the District leader here in my little district.

   The work goes good here in Lauenburg, this past week we were able to go by and visit a lot of people and see a lot of success as well, with getting a referral and other such things it was really a miracle filled week. We found two new investigators so that was a real blessing. We are very excited about being here and working with such amazingly prepared people as well.

A last photo with Elder Gerlach (Elder Fisher's trainer when
he got to Germany)

   We have not been able to do a lot of service in this area, a reason for that, however, is that we are just too busy for service here. We were very busy and traveling for missionary exchanges a lot and working very hard and seeing lots of miracles as well, and this coming week we are not even sure we will have time to eat or breathe this week, it is so wonderful to feel this way!

   I do not really have a favorite family in the ward because all of the members in this area are so amazing. We were able to eat with a family named Wiborny this past week, we ate lasagne at their house and it was really good.  My favorite thing to eat in my new area is egg salad sandwiches that we make at our apartment. My companion does the majority of the cooking in the companionship I would say, and he is a good cook so I am completely fine with that as well.

A farmhouse in a town with less than 500 residents

   In personal study I have been reading Church History in the Fulness of Times a lot, because I want to know more about the history of the church.

   Scripture of the week: 3 Nephi 20:8-9  “And he said unto them: He that eateth this bread eateth of my body to his soul; and he that drinketh of this wine drinketh of my blood to his soul; and his soul shall never hunger nor thirst, but shall be filled. Now, when the multitude had all eaten and drunk, behold, they were filled with the Spirit; and they did cry out with one voice, and gave glory to Jesus, whom they both saw and heard.

   Quote of the week: "There is no growth in the comfort zone, and there is no comfort in the growth zone." a missionary quote.

   It sounds like you also had quite the week as well and that you are enjoying life as well, and always staying busy too. I hope that you have a good week and enjoy the coming season of the Santa Ana winds!

Love,

Elder Spencer Fisher

They found Reese's Pieces in Luneburg

Lots of people dressed up like hippies on the bus

Investigators, the Word of Wisdom, and more on the Re-dedication of the Frieberg Temple

September 12, 2016

   Everything is still doing well in Germany. we were able to have 5 investigators at church this past Sunday! which is not something that happens too often. An entire family came to church!!! That was the highlight of my week by far, we also taught them the Word of Wisdom and they want to follow it, which never happens in Germany!! I was so happy about that. 

   I was able to interview someone for baptism this past Saturday which was a really cool experience. I enjoyed it, however I felt really responsible for saying if someone is worthy to be baptized or not.

   This week we were in the state of Hamburg 3 days and this week I have the possibility of being there for 3 more days, I am getting traveled up over here.

   We also have a pretty full week this coming week so I am excited. Also the ward members are finally warming up to us the missionaries in the ward so that is helping a lot.

   The temple dedication was a very interesting experience. We watched the cultural event by satellite. We watched the temple dedication at the stake center in Hamburg.  I was able to understand all of the German, I have been speaking it every day for almost 2 years now so it is pretty easy to understand it. All of the missionaries at the beginning and the end of their missions get to at least visit the temple and I know that when President Fingerle (Elder Fisher’s first mission president) first came in he wanted every missionary to be able to do a session in the temple before they went home.

   Scripture of the week: Doctrine and Covenants 29:7 “And ye are called to bring to pass the gathering of mine elect; for mine elect hear my voice and harden not their hearts;”

   Quote of the week: "tithing is not even like a commandment for me, because I want to give it so much." from my baptismal interview with the person who wanted to be baptized.

   I hope that you have a wonderful week and that you enjoy the cooler weather you are having right now!

Love you and hope as well.

Love,

Elder Spencer Fisher

Leadership Training Meeting in Hamburg, week of September 5, 2016

Missionary Work is Sprinting Forward and Dedication of the Frieberg Temple.

September 10, 2016

Germany this past week was a little bit rainy, but still very good. Germans do not celebrate Labor Day the same day as us, but there is something called “der Tag der Arbeit” which literally translated means the day of work and that is the first of May.  On P-days since we do not have permission to use a car so today we are just going to go and get an ice cream cone today and relax a little bit and get mentally prepared for the week. I am so excited that I can be in the service of the Lord!

The work is not only going forward but it is sprinting forwards! We were so busy this past week we could hardly believe it.  We met with 11 different people and served a few people as well!  We are still working with the two boys that are part of the part member family, they are really good!  This coming week it was also extremely busy. Our area is huge and it could very well be the largest in the mission, looking at a map (mom note: we’re not sure if he means his own teaching area or his mission zone area).

As part of my personal study, I am starting to read Jesus the Christ  in German.

The highlight of the week though was attending the dedication of the Freiberg temple this past weekend. The cultural celebration was on Saturday and was organized by my old mission president, President Kosak, I also saw youth participating in it that were in previous wards I have served in. A young woman from my first Ward on the mission had a saxophone solo during it as well! It was so cool!! Also President Uchtdorf spoke German the whole weekend as well and that was also awesome. At the dedication, Elder Bednar spoke in German as well, because he served in Germany and he has kept his language up all these years too! It was an amazing experience I shall never forget and to see what all this temple meant for the world at that time and I am so grateful to have served a mission at this exact time to see the dedication of the temple in Freiberg!!

(more blogs to see on the dedication of the Frieberg temple: Germany Berlin Mission 2015-2018 (this is the official mission page and has pictures) , The Adventures of Sister Darton--a sister missionary who was in Frieberg, Freiberg Temple Rededication--this is by a senior couple--who included pictures of the cultural celebration and dedication.  

Scripture of the week: 1 Corinthians 13:2 “And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.”

Quote of the week: D. Todd Christofferson "The perfect, divine expression of fatherhood is our Heavenly Father. His character and attributes include abundant goodness and perfect love."

That is all that I have for the week, I love you and hope that you have a great week.

Love,

Elder Spencer Fisher

Loving Lauenburg, Studying in German, and Meeting a Member from the Ukraine

August 29, 2016

   The area I am in is the Hamburg Zone for the Germany Berlin Mission but it is not part of the state of Hamburg. I am in Schleswig-Holstein which is the state right under Denmark! (mom note: Elder Fisher’s dad served a mission in Denmark)

   We continue to have success too, I love this place. This area is different, I miss my last area but this area is probably going to get the best I could possible give because of my language and work skills I have learned on my mission until this point. I have met a lot of members, and we are trying to build a really good relationship with the members. This week we taught people, tried a few new ways to find people interested and we had fun so that is really what matters I guess. For p-day we are planning on going by on some people but for the most part we are just going to chill.

   Yesterday going to church we were sitting in Sacrament meeting and a man walks in that can't speak German and we started translating for him and we got talking with him about who he is. He has been a member for 3 years now and is from Ukraine and he couldn't find the church for a month so he decided to start praying, and after a month of prayer, yesterday he had the feeling to get on his bike and start riding it to Lauenburg, then he had the feeling to turn right on the street where the church is!! It was such a big testimony builder that God does answer prayers in miraculous ways.

   My companion and I have a lot of things common, we like food a lot, his birthday is in November, he is my first companion (age wise) younger than me and it is only by five days too, we both like to work a lot, and we want to change the area for the better. He graduated from high school and worked before the mission. My new companion does cook, and very well, we enjoy food a lot, but we do not over eat ever. I was telling my companion this week about Blue Hills nursery and the wall of root beer, it was something I haven't really thought about since home I think.

   I don’t have anyone in this district that was in a former district, but my companion was trained by a person in my MTC district. We are on bikes every single day, I feel like I have saddle sores from being on the bikes so much.

   Last week, the Greek food was gyros fries a salad and a Greek sauce. Mama Baumgartel made us sweet and sour sauce with ground beef over noodles also very good. Yesterday we ate at a person’s farm and we had very German food, rot kohl, potatoes, and brat wurst. It was sssooo good.

   This past week, I studied how to become a better teacher in Preach my Gospel this week and it was really good and also studied the part of the Book of Mormon when the wars are starting, I read a little slower now, because I just read everything in German, I understand it all, it just goes a little slower.

   Scripture of the week: Alma 44:1 “And it came to pass that they did stop and withdrew a pace from them. And Moroni said unto Zerahemnah: Behold, Zerahemnah, that we do not desire to be men of blood. Ye know that ye are in our hands, yet we do not desire to slay you.

   Quote of the week: "the laughter of the world is loneliness pathetically trying to reassure itself" Neal A. Maxwell

Love you and hope that you have a good week!

Love,

Elder Spencer Fisher