Interviews, Tender Mercies, and Pictures!!

August 31, 2015

 

Elder Fisher!!!

 I am doing good.  I figured that you went to Sequoia from the pictures you sent but the smoke in the air doesn't sound to fun (there has been a forest fire going since July 31, 2015). Sounds like you got all your nature sightseeing done between the bears, deer, and trees. It will be interesting to go back to Sequoia and see actual mountains again and to listen for any people speaking German because I think a lot of people from France and Germany go there to visit (mom note: there are a lot of tourists from Europe when we visit). However, I prefer that I am on a mission too, than to be in Sequoia, because I can't teach trees the gospel!

Elder Rosenvall--his companion

   I haven't fixed the picture situation but I am working on it. I will check the technology store next to my apartment next Pday because we are kinda busy today. (mom note: this was fixed because there were pictures sent later in the day!)

   This past week I had my first interview with Präsident Fingerle and that was interesting and he is totally different from Präsident Kosak. It is literally a world of difference. It was good because I got to know him a little bit better and he got to know me a little bit better. You asked what a mission tour is-- A mission tour is when a general authority comes and teaches at a zone conference. It is cool.

 

Elder Fisher called this "the classic missionary
nametag picture"

 When we teach Sunday school (Sunday School is only on the 3^rd Sunday), the members decide whether or not they will study the other lessons but we usually just pick a lesson and teach it to the 2 active youth in the ward.  When we play basketball on Friday, we wear our P-day clothes but still wear our name tags and we still talk to people about our church. Every week I answer someone’s questions about the church.

   I haven't heard anything about the Mormon Tabernacle Choir touring Europe (summer of 2016) but that is cool that they are doing that.

 

A view from his apartment in Rheine Germany

 I have seen tender mercies from the Lord on my mission, one is when a companion and I do not do a good job teaching a part of the church's history or a lesson. The investigator later does find the truth for themselves and still thinks that we are great teachers (sometimes it is hard to agree with that). It is a tender mercy for others and myself because others find the truth that they are looking for and I do not lose the opportunity to teach someone about the Great Plan of Happiness because of a mistake I made while teaching another lesson or when I didn't answer a question quite as good or directly as I should have.

Sunset from his apartment in Rheine, Gemrnay

   My favorite thing to study this month has been "how to become a true disciple of Jesus Christ".  It was a very interesting topic to study and helped me realize that I can do a lot more to become a disciple myself.

   I love you mom and dad and I hope that you have a good week and that you have fun with all the things you are going to do this week.

Love you and hope for the best.

Elder Fisher

(mom note: if you would like to know more about starting your family history or about temples, please visit Family History at Mormon.org or Temples at LDS.org

Mission Tour, Temples & Family History, and going to church in a small branch.

August 24. 2015

     This week we had a mission tour and it was awesome. The person who spoke was Elder Paul V. Johnson and he had some really good remarks. I feel like I learned a lot from the conference and it rekindled my drive to do the work more than any P-Day could have done.

      The teaching is going good--we have a few investigators and they are doing well.  My favorite thing to teach is the Temple and Family History lessons.  The new mission president wants us to focus on family history and the temple more in our teaching and it is totally changing the work in the mission.  I feel like the spirit of Elijah is truly touching the hearts of the people (And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, ad the heart of the children to their fathers~Malachi 4: 6) It is really great to see and watch happening and to be a part of it too!!!!  I feel it is going to be the thing to change missionary work and the retention efforts of the church once the members and all the missionaries get onboard because it is really helping our mission change the focus of saving one soul to saving thousands of souls.

   The branch meets in a church building that really isn't that big but it is big enough for the branch, I want to change that so that soon the branch will be too big for the building. We teach the youth Sunday school class every 3rd week of the month which is the week everyone has Sunday School. In a branch, 3 hours is not required or recommended so the meetings are like 3 weeks Priesthood/Relief Society and 1 week of Sunday School. It is really interesting to experience.

   I haven't given a talk in German yet but I have had to teach many classes to members and missionaries alike and those are just as fun. But it sounds like I will have the opportunity to give a talk very soon in the branch though.

    I told the sister from the Dominican Republic that my cousin was serving his mission there but I didn’t remember the exact mission.  This week I met another person from the Dominican Republic and he plays baseball and just lives and works in Germany. His name is Eddy and he is a friend of a less active member of our ward. He is a pretty funny guy--he showed up to play soccer with us wearing sandals and still played decently. We did play basketball again this past week but those guys we met last week all had excuses not to come like sleeping or sickness so we played with a couple of other of our friends.

   Eastern Germany is very traditional Europe and everything is a more conservative lifestyle. In western Germany it is like America but everything is written in German.

   Scripture for the week is 1Thessalonians 5:19 "Quench not the Spirit" and the quote for the week:  "there are three great '-tions' in this church; revelation, inspiration, and relation. I wouldn't have amounted to a dang thing in this church if my father hadn't of been Heber C.Kimball." J. Golden Kimball

   Love you mom and dad and hope you have a great week!!! It is almost September aren't you excited?!?

Love,

Elder Fisher

(mom note: if you would like to know more about starting your family history or about temples, please visit Family History at Mormon.org or Temples at LDS.org