Alright, let's get down to the nitty gritty here. Haha this week has just been quite the adventure!
So my week...where to begin. Let's just say I'm so grateful I'm with this stud by the name of Elder Anderson otherwise this may have been one of the longest, most boring weeks ever. To start it off, this is what went down. I was getting in the shower, and I tossed the phone onto the couch in our living room. It fell to the floor and the battery popped out, so while I was in the shower Anderson put it back together, but it asked for a PIN. He put in what he thought was the pin, but it was wrong, so our whole phone went disabled,and we couldn't make or receive any calls. That was okay though, because we had the other Elders five minutes away who had a phone and we would just call from theirs. So we walked over to their apartment and whaddya know... they lost theirs on a bus and couldn't find it. So not only has Erlangen been completely out of touch most of this week, but also all of our investigators and members numbers were on those phones, and we had no way to make any appointments out. So this week has been a lot of finding, but we can't even give people our number when we find, we just have to write down theirs until we can get a new one. So that has been super frustrating, but I love the Elders I'm with and the ward just laughed at us when we told them what happened, and the office elders are sending us new phones soon, so all will be well!
Oh, I almost forgot. I was on a split this week with the other Erlangen Elders, and we were out finding in a park. When we came back to the apartment, he realized he stuck his keys in my backpack, but never told me, and I didn't bring my backpack. So we were locked out. Luckily, once again, the other Elders were five minutes away, so we walked to them to get the spare key. BUT, the Elders in Nürnberg have our spare key (don't ask me why) and so we had to sleep on the floor that night until the next morning so we could go to Nürnberg to get the key without calling them because we had no phone.
The Lord is funny sometimes, real funny, but he definitely taught us a lot this week about organization, communication, and just taking whatever life throws at you, cause sometimes when it rains, it pours, and you just gotta laugh regardless of what happens. Two years is a long time to be angry or unhappy, and I can't imagine hating every single day and so I love and live everyday the best and happiest I can, before it's all gone.
Other than that, since we didn't have a chance to do much, we've been meeting with an investigator who is actually an excommunicated member. He really wants to come back, but is super embarrassed what people will think of him and doesn't want to come back in case he makes another mistake. We shared Ether 12:6 with him and promised him that sometimes it's quiet and you aren't feeling any answers to prayers because either you're already headed in the right direction, or the Lord is waiting for you to make a decision, because the teacher is always quiet during the tests. He also has an eight year old son who really wants to come too, and would love to be baptized. He just needs his dad to set the example on what it means to be a member. I love them both so much and he was feeding us so much meat and noodles I thought Elder Anderson was gonna explode, but I really pray and think about him every day to find what he really needs to get the courage back up to come back to church. He's an amazing guy, and the church could use his influence and testimony again.
That's the beauty of the Savior's atonement, as dark as his garments once were, he is clean once again, ready to come back. This gospel changes lives, the Savior really carries us when we can no longer walk, and this man has really seen both sides of that. I know the Savior lives and I know He knows every single one of us and loves us all more than we can imagine. He walks next to us and celebrates with us when we succeed, and weeps with us when we fall. He wants us to come to him when we do fall, because like our visiting general authority said in this last Zone Conference,"What father punishes a toddler for falling when they are trying to walk?" Don't be ashamed of your weaknesses and don't let others be ashamed of theirs. Those who are strong in the spirit have the responsibility of accompanying those who aren't until they themselves are.
I love this gospel and this work. The more you give, the more you have. I have seen it and I promise that it is true. I am so lucky to be here, finding more that I can give everyday so that others can realize just how much this church and you all mean to me. I love you all and I apologize that I don't have time, but we have no idea if we're supposed to be in Frankfurt today and we're super stressed, but I'll hear from you all next week and we'll be better... I promise! Don't worry about us, we love it, and life gets better and more fun every day.
I hope you all have a good week, and don't have too much fun without me!
-- Elder McGinnyGin
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