Wednesday, March 16, 2016

WEEK 3-14-2016 SOMEONE TOLD ME I ONLY HAVE 17 MORE EMAILS...THAT'S WEIRD!!!

Heyo Family!

Well, like I stated above, I was told by a missionary in my district, that I only have 17 more of these, and that is pretty scary.  But I guess I just have to make them good!

This week was pretty normal, except for the few adventures we were able to embark on.  We started the week by calling everyone that was in our phone.  We do that a lot, but this time we were able to meet with a very interesting man.  For privacy issues, we will just call him John.  We called John on Monday, and he seemed really interested to meet with us and I have no idea what the missionaries taught him because I can find no evidence in our apartment that they even taught him, but he is under the investigator section of our phone.  But he seemed really nice, and then so we scheduled out an appointment really fast and he wanted to meet the next day.  So we are kind of excited, and when we got there, we had no idea what to think.  We even invited him to be baptized on the first appointment (I wanted to show Elder Vasai that it can be done) and he agreed.  Then we made out another visit for the next time.  And the next time we were on exchange with the zone leaders (that should answer the question for mom. I am no longer a zone leader.  Haven't been one either since I have been here in Flensburg.) and we found out that he is seriously addicted to some bad substances.  That's putting it nicely.  So we are going to try to meet with John and see if he has the desire to give up these bad substances.  We then told our Ward Mission Leader and Ward Missionary about John and our two appointments, and they started to laugh and they were surprised that we found him again. They also knew a lot about John.

Elder Vasai and I have been doing good.  He is a great missionary.  I just love his courage that he talks to everyone.  And then he starts laughing when people talk back to him and he just looks at me and says, "what did they say?" I remember being that young on the mission.  He has this habit to always say yes when people ask him a question.  Like today, when we got our haircut, they asked him how long he has been in Germany and he kept saying yes.  It was funny.  I let him figure things out on his own though. I am there when he has questions but I love the conversations that he has with people.  I will have to send more pictures and videos of us.  He brought those skirt things that Samoans and Tongans wear with him on his mission, so we took some pictures like if we were island missionaries.  Needless to say, we try to have fun with each other.  I want him to know that having fun and doing work go together well.  

Oh, I just thought you would like to know because I am still laughing a little bit about this.  But there is a new thing in our mission, where all the missionaries should now receive callings in the wards and branches where they are serving. So our branch president found out about this and on Sunday he came up to me smiling, letting me know that he is thinking about a calling for me.  I told him to let me be a ward greeter.  We don't have any callings like that yet, but I could be a great one.  But whatever he decides for me to do, I will do it.  I thought that was interesting.  So maybe in the next two weeks, I will find out what I am going to do in this branch. I do not know if that means that I will stay here to the very end.  As long as I am with Elder Vasai, that would be great.  We have so much fun together.  The best is that he doesn't trust me yet when we go places and try to order food. He always thinks I am trying to pull a prank on him with the language, but I haven't tried anything with him yet.  I have to wait a bit until he lets his guard down.  

I think something that I really learned this week is to recognize where the miracles are.  I just feel like the Lord is refining us in a certain way.  I have often asked myself the questions, "Where are the miracles that I want to see?"  People who are super interested where they find us on the street. Or people who have the desire to come to church and just enjoy it and that strengthens their testimony.  Those have been some miracles that I have been hoping for, and this week we saw the exact opposite.  We saw investigators and members struggling with what they have, not knowing if they want to go further in the process. And that no one wants to come to church, for reasons I know not, but we keep asking how we can help them. Naturally, when someone is in this situation, he starts to look at himself.  Am I doing the best I can? Am I being obedient and worthy enough?  But I learned at the end of this weekend, that the miracles can be found somewhere else.  In me. In ourselves. I know that Elder Vasai and I are being obedient, and that we are worthy, because I can testify that the Spirit is working with us.  I have felt his presence at times and I know that He is with us, guiding us where to go. We always happen to have "coincidences" but I know that there are no "coincidences" only divine guidance.  I have seen a son of God, growing to the point where he is excited for a future, where we wants to be of service, and help others. I have seen a missionary who does not just give up when we reach the end of what we think the line and there is nothing there.  There is no end of the road.  But these are some things that I have learned.  Just don't stop.

Well, those are a few of my thoughts from this week.  I love you all and I will be sure to send pictures soon!  

Love,
Elder Bretzing


P.S. I still have not received an email from Kevin telling me the name of the new baby or if it is even a boy or a girl.  So.... I am still waiting....   

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