Most amazing miracle of miracles!! ( Langenhorn )

" I put one step in front of the other..."

October 21, 2013

hallo hallo moin moin! 

... most amazing miracle of miracles!!!

 A recent sister missionary who served in my area just returned home  a few weeks ago.  She worked in Langenhorn several months ago and lived in my same apartment! Since she has been home she has  had a certain  house come to her mind, and an experience she had while serving in this area...

She told Mirja about it, Mirja told us about it (along with very vague directions as to where this house would be), and so  Sister Darrington and I went off to find it.  We ended up following the directions to go "behind|" the Krankenhaus (hospital)and as we did so we came to house number 8 (directions from the sister). 

We went to the Klingel box and said a prayer.

We buzzed the second name down, spoke to a man over the speaker, and he let us up.  His name is D*** and he is 24 years old.

The first thing we noticed was that he had a huge scar running across the right side of his head.  He is from Ukraine, but he recently came here  so that he could have surgery.

We told him about the Book of Mormon, telling him that it had changed our lives.  We told him that it would change his life and answer his questions.

He became very interested and asked us, " Where can I get this book?!" 

We came by yesterday with a Book of Mormon  for him, and ended up teaching him the FIRST TWO LESSONS (The lesson on the restoration and the lesson on the Plan of Salvation). 

Holy crow, this guy is amazing.

After teaching the first lesson he just had one question for us.  "Why do people have to die?" 

So we ended up going into the second lesson.  After this great discussion, he didn't have any questions for us.  He just accepted everything we said. 

I asked him if he believed what we taught him. 

He thought about it for a minute and then said, 'practically all of it.'  But then after asking a couple questions, he resolved that he believed 100 percent of what we had taught him. 

I just looked at him incredulously and said, 'Wow. You have a lot of faith.'  His response was, 'well, doesn't everybody believe this?'  

The sad reality is that no, not everybody believes in "this".

Not everybody believes in God, Jesus Christ, or even Joseph Smith as a prophet.  Not everybody believes the Book of Mormon is the word of God, or that we have a prophet today.  

Throughout this visit, the Spirit was so STRONG.

I am not sure what this man's exact story is, but I'm pretty sure that a little over a month ago they discovered some kind of tumor or cancer in his head.so he came here to Germany for the operation.  He has been here for over a month and he will be returning to Kiev very soon. 

But then he will come back. 

Some of his questions broke my heart though, because I know that he fears that his own life may end very soon. 

Never before have we taught about the plan of Salvation with such meaning and never before have I appreciated it so much.

Suddenly God's plan for us...   

where we came from,

why we are here, 

where we are going... has so much more meaning. 

Before leaving this man, we told him that if he wanted we could visit him every day before he leaves to Ukraine, and he said,..." I'll be waiting." 

Yes, there are people prepared to hear the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. 

There are people who really NEED the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  So we are hoping to visit our new friend D*** tomorrow.

Something else happened yesterday that just rocked my world. 

A*** called me up, and started speaking to me in French. . . He sounded a little weird on the phone, like he was going through puberty again or something (except for he is 30 years old . . . ) just that his voice sounded really high.  But then I realized that he was almost going to cry!

He was so emotional  on the phone because he said he hadn't seen me in so long and he had been thinking about me all week and how I could have left Langenhorn . . . (We actually met with him on Wednesday . ..).  He said that every day that he had been at work this past week he had just been so WORRIED. 

Worried that I would just leave, and that he wouldn't be able to say good bye or anything.  Oh my goodness, can I just say that I love A*** and that I love being a missionary???? 

I was able to calm him down a little bit, and I started talking to him about what I was reading in the scriptures in Mosiah 18.  I reminded him of his own baptism and compared his experience to the people in this chapter.  I also asked him to pray for E*** that everything would go through with his baptism. 

A***'s faith has grown so much since I came here!! It is amazing!! 

My new companion, Sister Darrington, is AMAZING. (She has been serving in Leipzig for the past 7 months).   I love her so much already.  I like thinking of her as small but deadly. 

She and I have so much in common it's crazy.  We are both "Go doers!".  I am already learning so much from her, and I like the new dynamic in our mitarbeiterinshaft.  She is truly a good missionary.  

E*** and Afs*** are preparing to be baptized on the 2nd of November and I am praying that everything will go through.

I feel like a mother preparing for a new baby or something . . . or even better--twins!  Sorry if that is pushing the analogy :P but holy crow, planning for a baptism in Germany is a lot of work. 

Thank you for your love and support.  I love you all, and I wish you well!

Love,

Sister Heidi Elaine Shelley  

                                           Picture of  me, Eric, and Sister Nilson  at the bakery where Eric works.