Letter #70 - #HAVEATURKEY :) and a Merry Christmas too!

Happy Thanksgiving ya'll! I hope its going to be great for ya'll. Because unlike last year, (if you can remember) my Thanksgiving will not consist of me sitting in my onesie at like 9:30 at night thinking about food and eating a bowl of Nutella, peanut butter, and stale corn flakes for my Thanksgiving dinner. :) Thank goodness for Americans in Heidelberg. We have 5 appointments scheduled, 2 on one day, and leftovers on Sunday. :D Say goodbye to losing weight, and hello new goals for 2015. :) But anyway, lemme tell you about this week, something that I learned, a spiritual experience, and the goals that I have for this upcoming week, all mixed into about a paragraph.

So this week was going kinda sluggish and we weren't hearing from people. We kinda just thought, what really is going on ya know? And so we hadn't heard from Silvi all week and were wondering what was up. So we decided to stop by and check on her. She had been having a terrible week, and has been struggling with depression, really bad. As we came in, we talked to her about the decision she is making [to get baptized], and how Christ suffered for her and knows exactly how she feels. We hope that she can find happiness in Christ. Then, I opened up to her. I told her about my story, and why I came out on a mission. At first, I honestly didn't want to share my story for reasons like: I don't want to be open, or she'll think I'm weird or something. But, I decided to tell her anyway. I totally told it in botched German. But as I did, I had this overwhelming feeling of love for her, and for her decision to get baptized. I knew that I did the right thing, and that I was suppose to be there, at that time, at that very moment. She really appreciated the story. We then watched some Mormon Messages with her, and we both didn't want to leave. But, at least we knew that we left her heading in a totally 180 degree different direction then where she was heading before we came. She is great, and we met with her again on Sunday during church. It was wonderful. :)

Another thing that I learned this week is what it really means to think, "What would Jesus do?" It really is quite life changing. I can see the change happening almost daily, even hourly. I see the strength and happiness I receive from thinking that way. Like when I go up, all happy and smiling, and ask someone if they have ever heard of the Book of Mormon, and they just yell "NEIN!" Then, I just go bouncing off to the next one, who immediately thanks me and truly appreciates that I just wanted to "give" them this book. :) The thought, "How would Jesus Act?" brings one closer to Him more than anything else. This week, a lot of little temptation and hard things came, that hit me in spots I wasn't ready for. But, as I turned to Him, I tried my best to think of how He would act, and what I could do to serve. It's not easy, and I am still learning very rudely at times (if that makes sense). But, I know how much He means to me. This path I am on shows Him how much I love Him. I know that I have tasted a very, very small portion of what He suffered. But I do it with gladness, because I am grateful for the gift that Heavenly Father has given us, Jesus Christ. :)

This week, think of how you can show your gratefulness for the Atonement, eh? :) Then, eat a LOT of mashed potatoes that are homemade, because all that Germans eat is pureed stuff. ;P Love you all. I hope you have a FANTASTIC week, and a wonderful, wonderful Thanksgiving.

With the Charlie Brown theme song in my heart, and my praise from my people (the Indians) for joining our land. :)

Elder Mayne

Welcome to Heidelberg. And these are like, the worst pictures I have... :)

Me and Elder Brown going to MLC this week. :)