March 29, 2010

I guess its just too much of a crime in this mission to work in an area you love, with a companion you love, with people you love. Just when I thought it was unthinkable that I would be transferred, the call came on Sunday that I would be leaving Landshut and going to Nürnberg. For four months I've been working with these people and the success in this area has really started to take off in the past month, and I feel as though I've been plucked out of here just when I was really about to see the fruits of my labors. To make matters more foreboding, If I'm in Nürnberg for more than one transfer all be absorbed into the Frankfurt mission. It seems that the Lord knows me all to well, and knows the best way to really test my faith.
It does do me a lot of good, however, to say that I've left every area better than I found it, and Lanshut is no different. This past week has been our most successful week yet. Br. Hardtbauer is doing very well and WILL reach his baptismal date. Our last appointment with him was tough, but very spiritual. He lacks the faith in himself that he can be done with alcohol in time for his baptism, but his testimony and inner strength has blossomed since the first time I met with him.
Monika is doing great. She and Mario will be getting married next week, and in a couple more weeks she will be baptized. As hard as it is for me to know that I won't be here for her baptism, I'll never forget her and her example to me as one who truly came unto Christ and allowed him to change her life. She's well on her way to eternal life and will always be in my prayers.
For the past couple weeks we've had some really interesting experiences with finding new investigators. Last week we were walking home along the river at the end of the day and ran into a young guy, drunk as a skunk, trying to call his friends to come pick him up. Problem was, he had fallen and broke the buttons off his phone. Elder Ray and I decided that we couldn't just leave him alone the way he was and did our best to walk him home as quickly as we could. Once we reached his apartment we found out that it wasn't even his apartment at all. We had to leave him there but found out where he lived and went by his place last week. It was almost strange to see him not drunk and crazy the second time, but also a relief to actually meet him and find out that he was a really nice guy. One of his roommates thanked us over and over again for finding him the week before. "Any other person would have just left him there," She said, "Thank you so much. It's amazing to me that you would help him." We made an appointment out to come back this week and share our message with him. I'm excited to hear about what becomes of him in the near future.
We had another great finding experience this past week. After contacting a potential investigator in Kumhausen, we decided to door a building by the bus stop before we left back to Landshut. We doored into a nice lady who let us in and proceeded to tell us how she had become converted to Christ after seeing him very vividly in a dream. She even had a framed Simon Dewey painting of Christ on her wall. We had a great and very spiritual first lesson with her and made an appointment out at the end.
Hr. Reichl, our other new investigator, has really enjoyed the book of Mormon and is now thinking about a baptismal date. He's a very humble man and has shown me how humility is key to feeling the power of the holy ghost.
My time in Landshut has been arguably the toughest time of my mission, and also in a sense the greatest. I've learned so much and grown more in a short period of time than I ever have in my life before. As huge of a bummer as it is to be leaving, I know that the Lord is in it, as always, and that I have some important work to do in Nürnberg. Till next Week...

-Andy