"Time is Ticking" an Unnerving Echo

July 19, 2010
As I sit and contemplate on the events of this past week, I realize what an incredibly foolish "Doubting Thomas" I've been. On Tuesday morning, the day before transfers, Elder Schwitters and I received a call from President Ninow informing us that plans had changed and that I would be going to Wuppertal the next day. For me the news was devastating, and my love for Schweinfurt caused me to forget for a little bit that the Lord has always sent me where I needed to be. The day consisted mostly of me packing, grumbling under my breath, and feeling sorry for myself. I think my biggest frustrations, however, came from first, not having the time to even say goodbye to all of my dear friends in the ward (with the exception of a select few), and second, the feeling I had that I had not done all I could do to accomplish what I originally wanted to accomplish in Schweinfurt, and that I would now never have that time back to do it.
The next morning the Pfisters drove us and all my luggage to the train station. I was still pretty emotional and down, and having to say a rushed goodbye to the Pfisters didn't help. We stopped in Würzburg to meet up with the other Elders and Sisters from our zone heading up north, said some more goodbyes, and then there I was, on the way to Frankfurt and officially in brand new territory. A couple hours later, as the enormous Frankfurt skyline became bigger and bigger on the horizon, panic started to replace sadness. I realized that everything I had become familiar with over the past year and a half was behind me, and that I was, in many more ways than one, entering new territory.
Being at the Frankfurt train station with a bunch of missionaries that I didn't know didn't exactly help my attitude, but the change started once I got on the train heading north up to Düsseldorf. From the moment I got on that train to the moment I laid my head on my pillow that night in Wuppertal, peace slowly replaced all of my panic and heartache. My first evening in Wuppertal was very pleasant. As Elder McArthur and I started getting to know each other we discovered that we had many common interests and were going to get along very well. We had a lesson with Wang, a Chinese student with a great desire to come closer to God, during which I fully realized that the Lord had once again sent me to a new area in his infinite wisdom. When I think about it, it still makes me sad that I had to leave Schweinfurt, and all of the people there that I loved, so quickly and unexpectedly, but I've been really amazed at the peace I've felt about the whole situation since I got here. This peace doesn't come from myself. It comes from the one who knows exactly how I'm feeling and exactly where I need to be. This peace comes from the Atonement. It is times like these when I am so grateful for what my Savior did for me. I should never have doubted that I was being sent to the right place, and am grateful to my savior for showing me once again that as we do our best, all will be well. It's as simple as that folks. Yes we will have trials in this life no matter what we do. There will be pain and sorrow in our lives despite our good actions. But if we do our part, the Atonement makes it possible for us to, in the words of Hunter S. Thompson, charge through the big brick walls in our lives, come out the other side covered in chalk and dust, and look real good doing it.
Love you all! Take care!
-Andy

July 25, 2010
I heard from quite a few Elders that Wuppertal was the rainiest city in Germany. Today I'm finally witnessing a bit of what they were all talking about. Since we left our apartment this morning the wind hasn't let up, but it's a refreshing change of pace amongst a very hot, humid summer in Germany.
My first full week in Wuppertal was a very good one. Elder McArthur and I are getting along very well. We're both semi-liberal intellectual artists and philosophers and enjoy helping each other with our different film and book ideas and sharing angry rants about both left and right-wing politics. Not to mention we do some pretty good missionary work together.
This week we started meeting with Wang, our 26 year old Chinese investigator, three times a week. Last week it was he who actually suggested that we meet more often, which was a very pleasant surprise considering the fact that the ideal situation for a missionary is to meet with investigators three times a week. In our last three appointments with him, we've seen very small steps in the right direction, but also a lack of desire to really test out the gospel. I think Elder McArthur described the problem we're having with him right now the best... Our goals are first: to help him find God and come unto Christ, and second: to help him improve his English while Wang's goals are first: to improve his english, and second: to find God. Wang's biggest setback in coming closer to God is the fact that he is very happy and independent right now, and feels no urgency in coming closer to God at this point in his life. As we've been trying to teach him the importance of not procrastinating the day of one's repentance, it's been interesting for me to see that a lack of trials and hard times can be a bigger stumbling block in finding God than having them.
On Friday we spent the evening in Düsseldorf for a District Leader council. As Elder McArthur attended the meeting, I went with one of the other District Leader's companions to do some street contacting. After the meeting Elder McArthur told me about some discussion that went on there that I pondered about and thought would be worth mentioning. I guess the meeting was focused on how we could improve the work in our Zone, and conversation led to the usual things like missionary skills and strategies. Finally Elder McArthur and Elder Hohman, one of the other district leaders, spoke up and rocked the boat a little. They expressed their concerns for focusing to much on skills, strategies, and temporal things, and a lack of focusing on the spirit and being spritually uplifted. I thought a lot about that and came to the conclusion that sometimes as missionaries, we get so concerned about all the numbers and business and "technical" side of being a missionary, that we lose our focus on the most important aspects of being a missionary, feeling the spirit and having the spirit with us. Without the spirit, this work just doesn't, well, work.
Getting to know this ward has been an interesting experience. The dynamics of a German ward are very interesting, very entertaining at times, and very different from American wards. I kind of forgot that after being in the half German, half American ward in Schweinfurt again. There are some wonderful people in this ward however, and as always, I'm very grateful for the opportunity to get to know them. Every Sunday evening we're over at the Lobeck's for dinner. Brother Lobeck is an old, crusty retired sailor with a mouth to match his old profession. I think he's the manliest man I've ever met and always has something hilarious to say. Our ward mission leader, Brother Schienagel, is very involved in the work and very concerned for our well-being. My love for him grew a lot on Sunday when I had an experience with him that made me realize how much he cares about the missionaries. At the beginning of priesthood meeting, a brother in the ward gave some announcements and as I talked about the ward cookout that happened on Wednesday, he talked about how sad it was that the missionaries didn't bring anyone to the cookout in-front of everyone, making us look like a couple of bums. Brother Schienagel immediately raised his hand and very sternly made sure that it was clear that it wasn't our fault that we couldn't find anyone to accept the invitation to come to the cookout. I've been criticized by members before in other wards, but never had someone else in the ward stick up for us like Brother Schienagel did. His appreciation and love for us was apparent in this situation, and I feel like the missionaries will always be in good hands here in Wuppertal as long as he is the ward mission leader.
Love you all and hope you have a great week!
-Andy

August 2, 2010
It was quite the omen this afternoon to open my email account and see the title of Mom's latest email--"Time is Ticking"--blaring at me when I've already been fully aware of how the time is quickly winding down. Yes, the time has indeed flown by, and continues to tick with an unnerving echo, but it has left me with a new sense of urgency to use the little time I have left to find someone whom I can lead to baptism.
Our mission currently as a goal of 200 baptisms for this year. We are currently at 90 as far as I know, and have some hard work ahead of us in order to reach that goal. Teaching 20 lessons a week has also become our focus because we have also been promised by the area presidency that if we do so, our number of baptisms will double. As excited and ready as Elder McArthur and I were to start getting a lot of lessons in this week in order to make some great leaps and reaching those goals, this past week didn't quite yield the fruits that we were hoping for. For whatever reason, we were able to get a hold of hardly anybody this week, and found almost no success in our own efforts of finding people on the street. The good thing about this week, however, was the fact that Elder McArthur and I have both been on our missions long enough to know that sometimes, no matter how hard you work or what you try to accomplish, some weeks just kind of turn out like our last one. The important thing is to keep doing everything that lies in our power, and then stand still to wait for the Lord to do his part...and unlike us imperfect beings...He ALWAYS does his part. After all, this is HIS work.
Now, back to our part of the deal. At the end of our tough week, Elder McArthur and I had a pretty hardcore planning session and planned on how we can get 20 lessons this week. We have several names of people we can teach (which is always better than just a number...this work is afterall about people), and have also given a lot of thought to how we can work better with the ward. Anybody who knows me knows that I am a dedicated advocate of working with the members, and we have some great families in this ward with a lot of potential. Tomorrow evening we'll be meeting with the Barluschka's, a family who just sent their oldest son to my old mission (tear), and we're hoping that we can ignite their excitement for missionary work and start working with them on finding a friend who they would like to have us teach in their home.
Elder McArthur and I continue to have a good time together. Our moderately liberal opinions blend well together haha, and our common interests have proven to bounce off each other quite well. We've helped each other out quite a bit with our various story, book, and film ideas, and in a discussion about the Inklings, the old writing club with such members as Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, decided that when he comes to BYU we'll have to organize a writing club of our own. We've also helped each other rekindle our flames in this last season of our missions, which is really what's most important.
To close this email, I feel impressed to simply share my testimony with you all. I would like to testify to you of the joy that comes with sharing the message of the gospel to our fellow men. Sometimes they accept it, which brings a joy that one could never imagine, and sometimes they don't. When they don't, it's sad, and some days gets very draining. In Landshut, Elder Ray and I even had a hardcore Russian baptist tell us that we were servants of Satan because we preached the message that we did. It brought joy to my soul, however, to be able to tell him in that moment, without a doubt, that he was wrong...that we were servants of Jesus Christ...that we were called by him to declare this message to the world. I know that that is true... that HE LIVES, and that he leads this church today through the prophet Tomas S. Monson. I'm so grateful that the Lord has given me this knowledge and allowed me to share it with the great people of this great land.
Take care all, and have a great week!
-Andy