Monday, July 1, 2013

Week Seventy-five

Hey friends,
So this last week felt like a SUPER long time, but it was just capped off well. I'm feeling pretty good at this time and I'm just pretty stoked to still be here in Germany. Germany is a great place. I love being a missionary, too. Helping people in this special way is just like so fulfilling and really just a special thing.

Last week was long, but good. A couple of our investigators made some really good progress. I was on exchanges, and now it's p-day. Let me just tell you about it all.
Montag: Monday was solid. We had to switch around our P-Day time, because we had an appointment early in the morning with M. He is the man who works for Synergy, some company out of Provo. We had a good talk with him in a hotel haha. We talked about the whole gospel message and about what we as missionaries do. It turns out that he didn't really have a whole ton of interest, but it was still a good talk. He is a way cool guy and listened to us and took everything to heart. That's not too easy to find here haha. But it ended well haha. He totally can come into contact with the church whenever he wants when he feels like it's right. We then had P-Day and emailed at the W's house and ate there, too. We went shopping and just kind of chilled and took the time to zone out and nap. Good stuff.
Dienstag: Tuesday was fun. We were in Bergteheide for a long time. 
 
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We went and at lunch with the M's. Dr.M was there...random...and we had a good talk for a little bit. We basically got from the talk that he's not too interested in 'investigating' the church like we expect him to. He needs some time to really ask himself like what he wants in life and what's important to him. It's crazy to see how the world today can like mold you into wanted, worldly things. A lot of people only want what media and stuff tells them to want. Kind of weird how we can't be too honest with ourselves. Naja. The M's made us bomb food. Like German food haha. It was the best. We had a good talk about the missionary work here (Bruder M is a former mission president). After that, we went by on some peeps and then met B V. She met the missionaries a while ago, but it sounds like there wasn't too much teaching and learning going on. More like hanging out. So she was surprised when we wouldn't come into her apartment (we had no joint teach and she is a single woman with no man in the house). But we had a good talk and said we'll meet when she gets back from vacation. Germans love vacation. After we got back from Bargteheide, we had an appointment with E! Bruder B was there and translated into French. E's faith is kind of strange. He interprets the Bible a lot. I don't see how the Bible has to be some fantastical book that you have to read into and make these crazy interpretations out of. It reads pretty simply, in my opinion. And when we don't pray about it, of course you're going to get these strange ideas. The lesson went ok haha.
Mittwoch: Wednesday was district meeting! In Lübeck. The zone leaders were there, too. We had a good meeting and the ZLs talked about finding and approaching people. Afterwards, Sister S made some delicious food and we had district finding in Lübeck. That took a while. After we got home, we had an appointment/ate/beasted member work with Bruder N. He is such a cool guy! We took us walking with his dog and showed us the homes of everybody that he wants to invite to take the missionary lessons. We bought us way too much pizza and then gave us 7 referrals....such a champion. I love that guy haha.
Donnerstag: Thursday was great! We met with Herr V early in the morning. We met outside at this Döner place and just kind of settled his concerns and got everything back on track. He is so great. We talked about really 'investigating' and trying to figure out if everything is true. And we set up plans to get him to church on Sunday. After that appointment, we went and ate with Schwester B at the Chinese buffet! That's always great. I feel sick after haha always. After eating, we kind of just walked around in the forest and let our stomachs settle. It was necessary. We did some doors in the area (the Bishop had picked this street out). And made out an appointment with someone. That night, we went to H's and had a BOMB lesson with him about following Christ and doing what Christ told us to do. He got us some Döner haha and we ate just way too much food.
Freitag: Friday was boring haha. We studied, ate lunch, planned, and then went on exchanges. We had to ride the train to Kiel, like 2 hours away. 
 
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I came back with Elder Lüning from Kiel. And we had another appointment with E. This time was better and we talked about baptism. Eduardo is under the category of 'I've already been baptized' and we've already tried to explain authority, but he just didn't want to understand haha. So we're still working on that.
Samstag: Saturday was the most spontaneous day on my mission haha. Elder Lüning and I had to re-plan our day because soccer in the morning fell out. The Lübeck elders called and asked us if we could help with a move, so we basically jumped up, packed everything SUPER fast and rode our bikes as fast as we could to the train station. We made the train, by the grace of God haha. And we helped a member move like all day. We ate lunch in Lübeck where I met the coolest rasta guy and took a pic with him. I'm going to grow dreads. Elder Loitz and I got back very late that night.
Sonntag: Sunday was great. Herr V came to church! To understand how cool this is, I need to explain Delingsdorf. There's no way to get there without a car haha. The buses are really bad there. So Herr V got up super early and rode the train and got to Ahrensburg at like 8. We had to wait like an hour and a half to be picked up. I thought that was way cool. And he kept talking about how he wants to join the church! Haha it's great. We need to teach him a lot but I know he can do it. Church was just great. We watched the missionary broadcast thing, which just told the members to act up and start treating the missionaries like this work is real. I loved it. P.S. was Dallin Cutler in that video? I swear he was. After church we ate at the B's, who made tacos. Mmmm. I hadn't had guacamole and refried beans in so long. It was a miracle. And we actually spent the rest of the night planning.
It was a good week. Sunday was just great. And now it's P-Day, so blessings. Elder Loitz and I are getting to this focus of teaching members how to invite friends to church and going hard on finding ourselves. We're going to help somebody so much, that they'll just jump in the baptismal font. That's our goal! Always!
Was it really 129 degrees in SD? That's redonkulous. It gets up to like 90 here in Germany, but the humidity just kills. I'm super jealous that I'm missing the 4th of July again. Like my favorite holiday. I'll send a picture of my new suit and shoes. If your eyes can handle me.
I'm having a great time, and I hope you are, too! I love you all so much, and you just solicit my prayers haha. Thanks for being wonderful. One more week until I can email you again!

Love you all!

Elder Pollard

1 comment:

  1. Elder Pollard,
    Great to hear you are enjoying your mission! I hope you have a successful week! It's fun to hear your news, and how you are growing.
    Sister Fallentine

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