HAPPY DAY!! Another wonderful email...and finally some pictures. :D But many of the pictures weren't able to send..so hopefully we'll receive more next week.
28
October, 2013
Liebe
Familie :)
Hallo once again!
This last week was INCREDIBLE.
Sister Darrington and I continued to
see so many miracles as we worked together in bringing people unto Jesus
Christ.
We met with D*** two times this week!
The first day we watched "Finding Faith in
Christ" and actually experienced a miracle right there with him relating
to prayer.
We brought a film over
but forgot to bring our portable dvd player. (He told us at our first lesson
that his was broken and that he hadn't been able to get it to work the entire
time he had been there). We asked
if we could say a prayer with him, asking God to help us figure it out so that
we could watch the movie. He just looked at us like we were crazy but
then agreed. After we ended our prayer we just bounced right up and went
over to the dvd and picked up the dvd player. We put the disk in and then
turned it on and pushed play. The movie pulled up. D***was FREAKING
out (hahahaha) and insisted on us telling him what we did to fix the player. We insisted that it was all God,
that he wanted us to be able to watch the film . . . In the end he finally
believed us.
We watched the film in
Russian and then discussed it after.
We talked about Jesus Christ and his ministry, his nature and character.
In our first lesson when
we first met with him he said that he was very familiar with Jesus Christ but he
didn't know if he believed in him as the son of God.
But after we watched this film and bore our
testimonies he had changed so much. His faith already seemed so much stronger.
We ended up talking to him about the full
gospel of Jesus Christ: Faith, Repentance Baptism, Receiving the Gift of
the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. The Spirit was so strong in the
room.
We talked about how he
was feeling
and he identified "good" feelings
that he felt as we talked about God and Jesus Christ and as we visited him.
It was especially cool
because even though his head was causing
him a lot of pain (due to his illness
and surgery) he still was able to sense the good feeling that came from the
Spirit. He ended up saying that he would think about being baptized, even
though we never formally invited him.
I think that is a miracle right there too. We had to leave but we
promised we would be back soon . . .
We went back on Thursday and decided
to take a walk with him. It was just such a beautiful day outside. We picked up
beautiful leaves (Mom, I sent you one ;)) and Dennis insisted that we were crazy and that they were all the same.
Most importantly
though we were able to talk more about
the gospel, and about some of the other things that we had talked about.
We eventually returned back to his apartment and we told him that we could send missionaries to him once he was back in
Ukraine.
*Quick insert:
On the day that we went to contact the referral from Sister Bohne and found
D*** we had also received another referral in the mail. It was from Elder
Roggow, whose family is from Langenhorn, and it was a note on there that he had
received his Visa and was now in Ukraine. We didn't know in what area he
was serving, but then we saw Bruder Roggow on Wednesday and he said
that Manuell (his son) is serving right
in the center of Kiev exactly where D*** lives. That is no coincidence.
So we told D*** that!
D*** is probably the most independent person I have ever met
haha, and he insisted that he could just
teach himself what he needed to know without the help of other missionaries.
But he did give us his address and his email address so that we could
write to him and continue to share things with him. We will also be
giving him the address to the church in Ukraine which I am pretty sure is near
to his house . . . And hopefully we can convince him to let us give his address
to Elder Roggow.
I just know that all of these events happened for a
reason,
that the Lord wanted us to find him, and that he will soon be baptized.
Before leaving I gave
him one of the leaves that I had collected that was in the shape of a heart.
I told him never to forget us, or
what we taught him.
Earlier in the walk he told us that leaves will
just die,
but we insisted that they could live on and preserve a memory.
I told him that I was going to tape them in my journal that night so that
I could always remember him and how he touched my life. I told D*** that he could do the same :).
And that night I taped a heart shaped leaf
in my journal just like the one that I gave him and wrote: "I will never forget
my Russian/Ukranian friend
with so much faith."
Wow we already miss him.
This week we achieved more than I have ever
achieved on my mission yet.
There were a couple days where I
just collapsed onto the couch after coming back home. The crazy thing is
that I am actually in heaven.
I like how willing Sister Darrington is to
just GO GO GO. Ha ha.
Let the real work begin!
We found so many people this week who were
prepared for the gospel, set up so many new appointments, and got so many new
contacts.
Honestly it was a little bit eerie, I
felt like the people were just coming to us!
E*** and Afs*** have to have their baptisms
changed because they have had such problems with attending church.
E*** is so ready to be baptized but he really
needs to keep this commitment before he makes a larger one.
We met with him
earlier this week and read from 3rd Nephi 11 and ended up having the most powerful discussion about Jesus Christ and the
Atonement.
I have never heard someone speak about the
Atonement with such strong words.
He understands what Jesus Christ did for him
personally,and he clearly knows what it means to repent.
He is just amazing.
He came to church yesterday finally at the
third hour and had two of his kids with him. THEY ARE SO DARLING.
Oh my goodness. He is such an amazing father.
ALSO, I got an early Christmas present!
A*** was able to come to church yesterday!
That is the first time
he has come to church since I have been in Germany. It was good to see
him there dressed up :).
I was able to translate the meeting for him
since he doesn't speak any German . . .
Who would have thought I would be able to
translate an entire German sacrament meeting after three months?? Definitely not me.
Please please please keep praying for Afs*** and E*** though. They will be baptized this transfer, but they need the
strength of our faith and the strength of the Lord.
Oh
meine gute . . Mama . . . I love it here
so much.
I better be here for another transfer after
this one or I will cry.
As for my Christmas package . . . I would love
it if everybody in our family would write me a personal letter or make me a
card or something . . .
And maybe you could invite other extended
family members or ward members to write something? I don't know that there is
anything I need.
As long as I have your love and support
from home I have everything I could want or need.
Thank you all for
everything. I love you all very much and I hope you have a wonderful
week. Love you lots!
Sister Heidi Elaine
Shelley
I will send her package on Monday November 4.
Or you can send her a letter or package directly to the mission home address:
Sister Heidi Elaine Shelley (CHRISTMAS )
Germany Berlin Mission
Zerbster Strasse 42
12209 Berlin
Germany
***MAKE SURE TO LABEL THE LETTER or PACKAGE
"CHRISTMAS" in LARGE LETTERS.
***You need to allow four weeks for package delivery this time of year.
Christmas Packages and letters need to be received at the Mission Home by December 2nd .
Now for some pictures...
Found this outside of a hotel. It was pretty cool lookin ;)
OH HOW I LOVE MY LANGENHORN! :)
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