Things are going fine here in Rostock.
It´s also been a week of fallen out appointments. We´ve had some sad
happenings and some miracles. The sad thing is that our Serbian family
Tschüssed us. (Tschüß is how Germans say "bye" so the missionaries
verb-afied tschüß and it means 'to say goodbye'.) Yes, they don´t really
want to be taught anymore. This week we went by on them and Nikolai was
really sick and kind of out of it (I´d say he is in his late 40´s or
early 50´s). We offered to bring the Elders by to give him a blessing
and he accepted. They live in Bad Doberan which is a 30 minute bus ride.
We came back 2 days later and explained the blessing and he said that
he didn´t want it and he had too many money and health problems to worry
about us coming over all the time. I kinda feel like we just wore out
our welcome. He told us that he wasn´t saying don´t come over, but he
has our number so he´ll call us. He also said this week that he knows
everything about Jesus, so when he said that I knew his heart was
closed. So that was a big bummer. But it is kind of a relief because I
would always get really stressed before their lessons because of the
language barrier and I could feel their potential. We hope Nikolai lives
a while longer. He really looked awful this week. If not, we have the
message for their family and hopefully they´ll be willing to listen. But
thank you so so so much for fasting for Nikolai. When I read that you
did that it made me cry. Thank you for loving my investigators as much
as I love them.
This week we didn´t really meet with Svetlana. She
came to an appointment with us, but earlier that day we had called a
Russian speaking man in our phone and we couldn´t communicate with him
so told him we´d call back while we were with Svetlana so we could
understand each other. So we had her call him at the beginning of the
appointment and she talked on our phone with him for a half an hour. By
that time we didn´t have time and couldn´t teach her. It was also her
birthday Saturday so she decided not to come to church Sunday. So it´s
been awhile. But we have frequent contact with her by phone and we´ll
meet with her Wednesday.
The miracle of this week is we made 2 more baptismal
dates- with Cynthia and Vivian who I wrote about last week. Cynthia is
SO awesome. We asked if she´d read (we gave her Moroni 7) and she said
"Yes, I read about faith, hope and charity, and that everything that is
good comes from God." and pretty much rattles all the information about
that chapter. It was awesome and we know that she really read! She says
she really enjoys reading the Book of Mormon. Then our lesson was about
the steps to return to live with God (faith, repentance, baptism, holy
ghost, endure to the end) and that lead perfectly into asking them to be
baptized. We had a bit of a scare because they had both been baptized
as babies, but then I said that baptism is a sign to God that you are
willing to follow Jesus Christ and that should be their own decision and
their own promise to God. I asked them again if they´d like to be
baptized and they both said yes. So they plan on being baptized on June
23rd in the Baltic Sea. We have a member who just got baptized in March
and he is also from Ghana. We´re bringing him as a joint teach this week
so they can hear his testimony and so that he has the opportunity to
share his testimony with others. He really is such a great member
missionary. He gives Elders referalls all the time. Anyway. He´s kind of
nervous about it, so will you pray for Nanaking tonight and ask
Heavenly Father to give him the words he needs to bear his testimony?
Our appointment is tomorrow with Cynthia and Vivian.
Pedro is kinda tricky. We have an appointment with
him this week and we have no joint teach so we´re kind of nervous. I
hope we don´t say something completely stupid or don´t understand him.
We´re also planning on inviting him to baptism this week. We´ll see how
that goes.
There are certain countries that we can´t baptize
unless they´ve already been baptized into a different Christian
religion. Pretty much wherever it´s illegal to be Christian (all of
middle east) we´re not allowed to baptize them. There are lots that try
to get baptized just so they can stay in Germany, but there are also
lots that want to be baptized because they really love Jesus Christ and
know Christianity is the right way. That is the most heartbreaking thing
when we can´t baptize them when they really want to because they´re
from middle east. Seriously breaks my heart every time.
If you haven´t sent the Niebergall letters yet you
can try to send them to Rostock. My name is on the mailbox now so it
should HOPEFULLY get here. Or maybe you should just send it to Berlin to
make sure it gets to me. Whatever you decide, I´m okay with.
Is Roo really a puppy still? It´s kind of huge!
Thanks
for updating me on the friends you see. Whenever you see a friend of
mine be sure to say "hi" to them for me and "I´m doing great and being
is the best thing ever."
I think that if you get pick pocketed they will
reimburse you, it´s just that Sister Noyes didn´t feel like going
through all the trouble to get it back. So I don´t think you need to
worry about that. She got a new card in the mail this week, so we should
be fine money-wise now.
We did have President´s interviews this week and it
went great. I talked to him about Tucker and he let me know it wasn´t
him that met Tucker, it was the new President, President Kosak. I guess
President said that President Kosak even e-mailed him about that so he
knew what I was talking about. Anyway, Tucker will be able to see him,
quite a lot. Awesome!
I can´t believe it´s
been a year since I got out of school. It´s flown faster than any other
year in my life. And that Kyle is getting married this weekend? That´s
nuts. Do you know if they plan on going to USU? And Mitchel gets married
in September? That´ll make 3 cousins (so far) married while I´m gone.
Also, I met Amanda Niebergall´s friend here in this mission. Here name
is Sister Bohne. She seems really cool and she flipped when she saw my
name. I guess she´s good friends with Amanda.
I look forward to Skyping. It shall be interesting. I
guess I´ll talk to you (and see you) Sunday at 12:30 (8:30 for me.) I´ll
ring you because I don´t have a Skype account yet and I´ll have to make
one. Crazy!! Can´t believe it´s that time already.
Mom, I wish I would´ve made that calendar for you
after my mission. My testimony has changed so much and the scriptures
mean something totally new to me now. I´m glad that the calendar helps
you feel closer to me though. But I just have to say, I absolutely know
that this church is true and it´s all thanks to you and dad. Really, I
can never ever repay you or say thank you enough for raising me in this
gospel. I know that it changes lives, brings peaces, gives people
answers to the questions in their lives, but ultimately, is the only way
back to our loving Heavenly Father. It´s amazing how much more simple
the gospel has become since I´ve been here. I know it´s true, every
single bit of it. I love you all so much and think about you often! Bis
Sonntag!
Love, Sister Niebergall
-Picture:
Sister Noyes and my our second day together. Yes, I was straddling the
cannon. That´s where the look of panic comes from. "How am I supposed to
get off this cannon in a skirt"
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