I have received direct Witness

Its almost 7:00 p.m. here in Erlangen. Had to have a bit of a different schedule this p-day due to an unexpected service project... and I am pretty exhausted. But what the heck, you're pretty much always tired on the mission anyway, so no biggie.
It was another slow week for us here in Erlangen, but we've made some serious progress and have a great week ahead of us.
As if by some divine miracle (actually it was by divine miracle), we were finally able to reach Walter Ganther after three weeks of no contact! To our surprise he was still open to our message. We were able to recommit him to reading in the book of Mormon and made out an appointment for this Wednesday. My certainty that Walter will be the next baptism in Erlangen remains, against all odds, and if all goes according to plan, and if he is ready, we will have set a baptism date with Walter by the end of the week. Its quite the nerve racking thing to try to baptize a newly converted Jehova's Witness, let alone teach him, because when you do that, you are up against an entire congregation who will do everything they can to stop you. Needless to say, we, and more importantly Walter, need your prayers now more than ever.
got some other emails to write this week, so to close this rather short and lame email this week I just want to share a pretty awesome spiritual experience we had today. For p-day today our district spent most of the day in Herzogen-Aurach, a dorf in our area, because they have epic Puma and Adidas outlet, and Elder Anderson wanted to go there and check it out for his birthday. We all pitched in 5 Euro and helped him buy some sweet shoes from the Puma outlet and ate at this sweet Mexican restaurant. Anyway, as we walked back to the middle of town where our Bus stop was, we started talking about Joseph Smith, and how there was absolutely no possible way that he couldn't be a prophet. The spirit kinda just hit us all at the same moment, then Elder Achtmann suddenly started faintly singing "Praise to the Man," almost as a joke, until we all joined him and walked down the street singing that amazing hymn like it was nothin'. And yes, I know that sounds totally doofus-missionary like, but it was a really powerful experience to walk down the street bearing our testimony of the Prophet Joseph in unison like that. Because of this silly but powerful experience, my testimony of what I'm doing here is reinvigorated ten-fold, and I can honestly say, once again, that I have received direct witness from God that Joseph Smith was his prophet, and that means that what I'm doing here is more important, and more incredible than anything else I could possibly be doing at this time. How lucky am I?!

Love you all! Bis nächste woche!

Alles Gute!

Ihr geliebter Sohn, Bruder, und Freund,

-Andy

Time Hurries on...September 14, 2009

As of today I've officially been on my mission for 8 months. Unbelievable! Its just like Simon & Garfunkle said, "Time hurries on, and the leaves that are green turn to brown."
The work is going a little slow for Elder Jensen and I, but we're both doing our best to keep our spirits high and strengthen our faith. All we can do now is step up to the plate, organize ourselves, and keep on truckin'.
Despite the lack of luster in the work right now, I've really come to feel at home here in Erlangen over the past couple weeks and am very grateful to be working here. We have a wonderful ward whose enthusiasm for missionary work is definitely growing. Our district this transfer is also pretty legit. All four of us know how to work hard and play hard, and we've already had some pretty awesome times. Last week we went to Höchstadt, a Dorf in the Erlangen area, and picked up some awesome things at this Sozial Kaufhaus, which is basically a German version of D.I. Elder Achtmann found this amazing shirt (pic attached) and I was able to get me a Mr. Rogers sweater and a couple cool mugs. Our biggest adventure so far, however, was yesterday, when we had what Elder Achtmann and Elder Anderson called "Davy Jones Jambalaya" for Sunday dinner. It basically consisted of shrimp, clams, and...OCTOPUS that we found in the grocery store, (pics attached). It was actually pretty good (despite the fact that the octopus squirted sea water in my eye when I bit into the head) but my stomach was dyin' later that evening.
On a more spiritual note, Last Tuesday was Zone Conference, and probably the best and most spiritually uplifting Zone Conference I have been to so far. The theme this transfer was "becoming a better teacher" which I felt was exactly what I needed. There were two things in particular said by two different Elders that really spoke to me and helped me realize what I need to change. After giving us some tips fro street contacting, Elder Bond, our new zone leader, said that we don't do these things because they're gimmicks to trick people into listening to us. We do these things because we love the people, and we want to make sure that we give the German people a better chance to accept the gospel. As you all well know, I can have a little chip on my shoulder about somethings and always kind of tune out when Elders talk about what I usually refer to as "fancy contacting methods," but what Elder Bond said gave me the right motivation to be willing to try out new things and put forth an effort to become a more effective missionary.
Our new A.P., Elder Williams, talked about how we all reach a pint where we kinda slow down in our progression as missionaries and just float for awhile, and eventually either choose to rise up again or just kind of poop out (if you'll excuse the expression). I realized that I am in this state of floating right now, and must decide to rise to the occasion and work even harder to become the missionary that the lord as called me to be, because if there's one thing I don't want, its to just give up and coast for the rest of my mission.
Lastly I would especially like to thank you all for your prayers this week. In many instances they are what keep me going. I am still going and becoming a better missionary to bless the lives of the people here because your faithful prayers keep me going when things are at their toughest. I love you all and hope the coming week brings you health and happiness.

Alles Gute!

-Andy

Absolutely Wonderful Nonetheless

Hope the past week has been a good one for you all. Once again the times are a changin' as they frequently do here on the mission. As I reflect on this past week, I realize how much my mission has helped me to accept change, something that was always hard for me to deal with in the past. Not even a month ago I would have cringed at the thought of having to take over an area, but over the past week I've been able to step it up and keep things going with very little trouble. Just goes to show you that the Lord will never give us something that we can't handle.

Elder Jensen and I are getting along just great. He's really easy going. I think the only challenge that we may have, if any, is getting the flow of teaching together well, which is something every companionship has to work on at the beginning. Elder Achtmann's greeny (That's what we call new missionaries), Elder Anderson, is a really cool guy. He's from the San Fransisco area, which of course is awesome, and seems to be adjusting to life in the field a lot better than I did. I think he's off to a good start because he's working with a great trainer and two other Elders who know how to work hard and play hard.

For the past transfer I've really tried to increase my love for the people, which I'd say I've done pretty successfully. Now it seems that the lord is testing my patience for the people. As of now I've reached probably the most frustrating situation of my mission. Our golden investigator, Walter Ganther, has been completely unreachable for the past two weeks. We've done everything we can to reach him, so now we just have to sit back and give him some time. The last time we met with him, we watched the Restoration DVD at a member's home, which he really enjoyed. He also said that he would read the entire Book of Mormon over the next week, and that he already believed it was true. Elder Gneiting and I were really excited about him and I was sure that he was going to be the next baptism in Erlangen. Its unbelievably frustrating to put all of your faith into a person only to have them all of a sudden fall out on you. This isn't the first time something like this has happened to me on my mission and It most likely won't be the last. The one thing I must remember now and for the rest of my mission is that in situations like this, all I can do is press forward, increase my faith and love for the people, and have the faith and works to see miracles happen for these people.

Yesterday at church, Bruder Daniel Auras, one of my fav members here in Erlangen, gave his new daughter her baby blessing. It was probably the most spiritually powerful Baby blessing I have ever witnessed, and I think its because the members here in Germany are so genuine in all that they do. Bruder Auras also bore his testimony and said how grateful he was to have the knowledge that he was sealed to his wife Andrea for eternity. These are things that I've witnessed many times growing up in the church, but because it came from such an amazing family that I've grown to respect and love during my time here, my heart was touched and made open to receive a strong and powerful witness form the Holy Ghost that through the restoration of the Priesthood, families can be sealed to be with each other in happiness for time and eternity, and that I will have the opportunity of being sealed to my future wife and raise a righteous family under the care and direction of my heavenly father.
If that all sounds cheesy, then so be it. Its true, and absolutely wonderful nonetheless.

I wish you all a wonderful week and send my tender lovin' vibes your way.

Alles Gute!

-Andy