Monday, July 14, 2014

Email - July 14, 2014

 No, I did not watch the game, but I definitely did not miss a second of it last night! Frankfurt was off the hook! Anytime a German player tied his shoe, the city would erupt! Fireworks, shouting, cheering, honking, vuvuzela blowing, the whole shebang all night long! So granted, I'm a little tired right now. But so happy. :) That's my country!! So put that in your pipe and smoke it, Zeke!

Haha I love hearing the weekly down low from all you guys! It gives me some laughs that only you guys can conjure up outta me! I hope you all are getting enough pictures from me! I try to keep it interesting, I know the pics are more entertaining than the emails! I have a ton of videos too that I wish I could send, but myldsmail only sends things under 15 MB, and that isn't a lot! You'll get them eventually. :) 102 degrees in Salt Lake?! Holy Aunt Jemima. If there was any humidity in Utah, I would just lay in a tub of ice all day that day. Let me know how it went!

 President Stoddard is doing great. I had an interview with him this last week, and he is definitely the man called to lead this mission. And every time I see him, he gives me a big hug and tells me to make sure I tell the fam hi!

 It was a good week as well. One of those weeks where a lot happened, but nothing that exciting or out of the ordinary to report on, that you all don't know already! It was a little bit of a frustrating week, because we spend so much time finding lately, without much success to show for it. We tried to have three different street displays this week, and they all either got cancelled last minute, or it started pouring rain 15 minutes into it, so we had to pack up and ride back to the mission office with the bikes before the supplies got too wet! That happened more than once this week, so I think I could go another little while without a swim. It's been a lot cooler lately, too! I'm definitely not complaining. It's been seriously so cool being in Germany as Germany stomped the rest of the world in the World Cup, but also really bothersome because no one has had much time to meet because of some kind of tailgating party or something else related to the world cup! They don't have any excuse for eternal salvation this week, though! So time out is over, and the game is back on. :)

 We met with a couple of YSA's this week, one of which is preparing for a mission. Her best friend just left for the St. George mission, and now she's working on getting out! So we've introduced Preach My Gospel to her and how to use it, and have been helping her with her mission papers! I love seeing people get ready to go on missions! And I know she'll be great.

 On Sunday, one of the YSA's we've been working with brought a friend with him to church! His name is Daniel. It was such a blessing and relief after this last week, especially for Elder Kitchen. He was getting a little frustrated from Frankfurt not showing us any love with finding new investigators, and said he had never prayed harder for someone to show up to church at the end of that week, to show us that the Lord was happy with our efforts through the week. And he was there! It strengthened all of our testimonies for sure. Kevin and his friend Daniel left during the middle of Sacrament Meeting, so we're in touch with Kevin so we can set something up with them later, and hopefully add Daniel to the teaching pool!

 So a little bit ago, I told you all about how important it is to be thankful. When I started and decided I was going to go a week with just expressing thanks to Heavenly Father, it got harder and more frustrating than usual, and I was a little bugged by that! I was trying to say thank you, but it was getting harder when I did! But now I know that Heavenly Father was really seeing how thankful I was, even when a lot wasn't going our way. I kept telling him thank you, no matter how the day went, for every little tender mercy I could think of, and even if there aren't huge numbers to account for what we got in return, I feel happy and satisfied. Those are two feelings that 90% of the world is looking for and is trying to find through religion, hobbies, and anything else. It only comes through doing the right things, and knowing that God is happy and aware of you and your efforts. I know that now, more than I ever did before. Trials are the biggest blessings, and you learn the most when it's hard. So don't wish them away too fast, because you never know what you might have learned!

 I love it here, I'm happy, healthy, and over time, so I gotta go! Sorry that I won't be able to get back to all of you this week, but you're all great! I love you all! Especially you, Mom!

 -- Elder McGinn

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