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....
