Monday, January 27, 2014

Letter #27 - Service Service Service Service Service.... You get the Picture :)

So this week, is going to be a little different format. As for the numbers and significant events in the days this week, nothing too special happened. But, thats not what Missionary Work is about. It's about the people, and just really helping people become closer to Christ and being not only a disciple of Christ, but also, a servant. :)

So this week, we met with none of our investigators. Sasan is in Frankfurt at the moment. We had a meeting with our bishop when we had basketball so we couldn't see Mario. And we are meeting with the Jackson today. Thomas and Tanja, had a couple of couches that they didn't want anymore, so obviously, we said thank you and took them up 4 flights of stairs to replace our legit 60+ year old couches in our apartment :) So, we didn't really have a lot of opportunities to teach the gospel, but we got to really, live this gospel - and that means, SERVICE. I love service. Just like Ammon, how did he first get to the heart of the King and preach to him the gospel? He went and did service. :)

This week, I had a hard week. I was feeling not successful at all and felt like the world was coming down upon me and I felt that I was just wasting the Lord's time. The reason I felt like that, is because I was thinking of MYSELF. Why me? Why this? Blah blah blah. There's no reason I should have been thinking that. And when I stopped and went to go help others, my entire outlook changed. We helped one of the families in our ward move and it was just an awesome time. They are moving closer to us, so we don't have to take a train for 20 min to get to their house. :) But, it was so fun, because all the members were there and you could just feel the Love. :) Ha. I also decided that when I get back, they are going to call me as an Elder´s Quorum President, because I love helping people move, and thats pretty much their Job. But, it was so fun and I realized that this work, doesn't just include bringing others to Christ.  It also includes the people who already know Him, and helping them become closer to Him.

We had a meeting with our Bishop this week and he said to try to visit a member everyday this week and do service for them. And we are going to. :) Because believe it, that is missionary work! Just helping someone out or making their burden a little easier. And I really have developed a strong testimony of that. And then after the move, we went over to the Biller Family's house and had Raclette and it was sooo good!!! And they invited over a less active, Sister Symmunk, who I gave a blessing to before! She is awesome, and we are going to meet with her this week with the sisters. We got to watch the video called "Mountains to Climb," one of my favorite Mormon Messages. I was able to testify of Christ. And the spirit, was so strong, you could cut it with a knife! It was amazing, just to feel Christ´s love and the love that I have for Him, and also to testify of His Love for them and they could feel that (if you follow ha).

Then on Sunday, it SNOWED! Ha, I was feeling it in my bones and body the day before, and I knew a big storm was coming (American Indian problems). It was so fun to play in the snow a little bit and see how happy the kids were. Then I had the thought, what if it snows tomorrow? So we stole (just borrowed) a snow shovel from the church and took it home. Then last night, I asked Heavenly Father, if we could have more opportunities to serve and to give us more snow. Haha and guess what? It snowed like a foot today (thank you mom for the boots :)) Ha and so I was so happy to go out there, like a little kid and just go shovel walkways and what not. That just shows that He really is there. And He wants the best for us.

I listened to a talk by Elder Erying this week and he talks about when Joseph Smith is in Liberty Jail and asks God, "Where is the pavilion that covers thy hiding place?" And then the Lord answers, as we all know in D&C 121:7, "My Son, peace be unto thy Soul, thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment." The Lord is always there, but sometimes, we put our own spiritual pavilion, that stands in the way of God and his help. I know this to be true and he is always there to help us. Und ich sage dass in namen Jesus Christi Amen.

Love Elder Mayne



LOVE YOU ALL!!!! thanks for everything. Have a great week

Monday, January 20, 2014

Letter #26 - “Don’t believe in your doubts. Believe in your faith. Believe in yourself the way the Lord believes in you.” My wonderful Mother

SO this week, a solid, solid week. I just love this work, there is no other feeling I have for this or other words I could say. There are always challenges and sometimes really rough things, but if we preserver through them, with faith, the blessings that come from it are remarkable. But this week!!! ......

Diesntag:
Ha a great missionary day. We got make some stop smoking cards that we are going to hand out to people, because lots of people here smoke. We went by on some Potential investigators.  I then went back up to Nürnberg because we were having another split :) ha.  Elder Ludlow and I had a great time teaching one of their investigators and then we met up with Elder Thompson, because there is a Nürnberg drit now ha, but it was fun to be around them and they always influence me to be a better missionary.

Mittwoch:
Ha all i remember, is we went to student dorms, which there is a lot here in Nürnberg, and doored out the apartments. It was a fun day, we had a lot of fun conversations and we got to testify of the truthfulness of the restoration and gave out 4 Buch Mormons. It was so fun though, because the looks we would get from kids my age, 3 guys, in black jackets and ties, taking a survey about the Bible ha. Its just fun, call me crazy. I love it how, there are so many different kinds of people and just how each and everyone has a different story and really, the only thing that ties them together, is their relationship with God and how He all wants us to return with Him. :)  After, we split back and then went to basketball and talked to Mario about life and a little about church again and it is great to have that relationship with him :)

Donnerstag:
I think the biggest thing that I have learned on my mission, is there is no way Ii can fully describe the things that go on here, in one email, with the time that I have. I wish I could describe the feelings that I have felt and all just the tiny little miracles that have happen and how blessed I know I am. That’s what a journal is for :) but you will have experiences on a mission that you’ll never have again as well as blessings. I know that this is His work and Glory. I have learned so much out here and I think that the best way I can show that to you is my love and happiness for you and my testimony. Just been reflecting :).
We went and taught Chris at Katholina’s house and talked about the Priesthood, We talked about how in chapter 17 of 3rd Nephi, the children are blessed because of the power of the Priesthood and how Christ cared, and loved each and every one of those kids. It was a powerful lesson. Afterwards, we went to a `Chili’s because the ehepaars (senior missionary couple) wanted us to come with Chris.
Fact: Germans do not know Mexican food - sorry but true.  Chris is an awesome guy and he is making some progress, he just needs to trust in the Lord and take a leap of faith.

Fritag:
Ah Zone training, I love these opportunities to learn from our leaders and I just feel the spirit very strongly. Zone training just brings you together closer as a zone.  I learned I can be a tool not only bringing nonmember people closer to Christ, but members as well.  I get little small promptings to just simply compliment someone or help someone out I know that if I do them, that person´s burden or challenge will lightened. And I am glad that the Lord can count on me to do that. And then after, we went to former investigator, now investigator, Jackson. Instead of a lesson, we had a family discussion because the daughter wanted to go outside with friends that night. We talked a lot about what we believe and how the church and its standards are kept and it was a great time :)


Samstag:
We went to the Millers today and ah, such sad news :( Sister Miller´s sister in law passed away during the week and it was so sad to hear. We hope she is ok and we are doing everything we can to help her know that she´ll see her again. Again how grateful we are for this gospel.

Sonntag:
SUCH A GOOD DAY!!! Our investigator, Sasan, the Persian guy, came to church! We gave him a Persian Buch Mormon and you should have seen his face.  This guy started reading it right as it got into his hand. We taught him again and set a soft baptismal date with him, but the one problem, is it’s hard for him to understand, basically anything, especially Church language. So pray for him too. Later, we had a potluck after church and just had a great time with the members, especially my good buddy Nils, the bishop´s sohn. We also went to the Ackermann’s and had an Ackermann Rat. It was really one of the best experiences on my mission. Words cannot describe the Love i have for these people out here. I am so just, blessed.

This is His work and Ii know it is true. It can bring happiness to each and every person, if they do the little things.  Reading and pray about the Book of Mormon, asking if it is true, and just living the principles of this gospel. "Don’t believe in your doubts.  Believe in your faith.  Believe in yourself the way that the Lord believes in you." This is an example of how blessed I am to have wonderful parents and influences in my life. Believe He is there. In this every changing world, we are scared what lies ahead. But this gospel, is always rooted in the ground. We will stand tall, rooted in the gospel, when Satan tries to stop us.
I love you all and thank you for all your support :) Love you all and I want you all to know, you can always talk to me or if you need anything, just shoot me an email. Or write too :) have a great week!!!


Love Elder Mayne

Monday, January 13, 2014

Letter #25 - The Week of Adventure (Sounds dramatic, right?)

SO this week, loved it. Lots of things happened and I just learned really, that the Lord works in ways we cannot imagine. He is there. But this week, was really successful and wow, I am so blessed :) but zu begin,

Montag:
NO P-DAY. So today was a holiday in Germany, where they celebrate the 3 wise men (catholic holiday) so no shops were open.  We just moved our p-day to Tuesday. But gosh, this day was the best non p-day EVER. We met with 2 former investigators, one is named Jackson, who is from New York, that has a family and he is a very prepared man.  He stopped us on the street on Sunday and told us to come by anytime we want!  So we did and we talked about families which was great. We then had another lesson with Jesse, the one that we have missed talking to and had difficulty getting a hold of.  It was great to talk to him and I really can see something coming from it :) so good day

Dienstag:
HA!  This P-day sucked. We did nothing ha. After emails, we went to the stake center because everyone said that they would be there. So we ended up sitting there for an hour, doing nothing, waiting for everyone. But then after P-day, I went on a split with Elder Ludlow and we had a lot of fun. We found 3 new investigators and got to teach a lesson with a guy from Louisiana :).  It was awesome and wow, I have never been in a bigger, nicer apartment, like, wow. The Feucht apartment compared to this one.... I really enjoyed my stay believe me :)

Mittwoch:
Still in Nürnberg, and wow, we had another awesome day. I just realized this day, that I am a missionary, yes. But I am still Adam Mayne too!  I have these talents and this personality that I have got to USE!
So Elder Ludlow and I had another great day, found 2 additional investigators and it was great. We then split back and went straight to basketball. Basketball was awesome. I had the thought to go talk to this guy that plays, because we saw him in Nürnberg earlier that day, and we had an AMAZING talk. He doesn’t look like the religious type, but we talked about the spirit world, the Book of Mormon and it was just an awesome talk. He is a super cool guy and it’s great to see that really, the Lord put me here for the reason. We are going to get his number on Wednesday and make an appointment :) so blessed.

Donnerstag:
So nothing too special here, until we went to Katholinas. She is awesome and even though Chris, our investigator wasn’t there, we got to have an amazing lesson about the Enabling power of the Atonement and the spirit was so strong.  I felt like you could have cut it with a knife. She is an amazing daughter of God and her willingness to follow Christ’s example and just have a strong faith in this gospel, is a great example to me.

Fritag:
Weekly Planning. Ha! Ha! Yup. That’s the tag.

Samstag:
SO COOL. So we set out this appointment for this guy in Altdorf, that the Zone leaders referred us to. Wow, he is awesome. His name is Sasan, is from Iran trying to learn Deutsche here because he wanted to follow his faith in Christ and have religious freedom. And he wants to be baptized! But there is a problem. So he speaks like, kein deutsch.   So we taught the entire lesson, through Google Translate into Persian from English. Gosh that’s so hard. But we felt the spirit and he prayed auf Persian and it was AMAZING! So we are praying for him and even though he didn't come to church on Sunday because he slept in, :), I know the Lord sent Him here to us. OH! And another cool thing, ha he has a sister that came with him, and her name is Dana. And the sisters were already teaching her 2 weeks before. HOW COOL RIGHT???? Ha I love the work.

I love this work. I can testify that we, we need to serve people. By serving people, you WILL get an answer to your prayers and you will feel Him testify of His love to you. This world, is crazy and it’s hard to live in sometimes because we feel like there is no hope. But there is hope. Its right where you stand, if you are standing on the Rock of our Redeemer, Jesus Christ (Helaman 5:12). HE is always there. HE is our help and that light we need in our lives. But ask yourself, are you giving Him EQUAL time? Are you focusing more on your relationship with Him, rather than the chaos in the world around you? I can promise, if we put HIM first, by serving his children, and becoming more like Him, strengthening our testimony of Him and doing the little things, everything else will fall into place. My commitment this week, is to look up this poem, it’s by Johnny Jay Jr. ( I think) and it’s called: The Oak tree. I have talked to some specific people this week about struggles they are having, and I especially want them to read this. I love this WORK. I really am SO HAPPY!!! That’s why I keep capitalizing things ha. I just love this work and I am the happiest I have ever been, no matter what has happened. Because this is why I am called to on this earth. To bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. I love this gospel and I testify of these things, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen

Love, your servant,

Elder Mayne


LOVE YOU FAMILY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ah this week was great. I really, am surprised at how much I have grown and how much I have been able to help people. This week is going to be hard but good, we are trying to get 10 new investigators. We´ll see how it goes :) ha love you!!! Send this to EVERYONE. Ha and I mean errone :)





Monday, January 6, 2014

Letter #24 - Good ol’ Feucht and Neumarket, We are staying together….

Another Crazy Schnell week has passed and my, oh my, I have been here in Germany for 4 months... Time neeeeeeds to slow down. But I am making every moment count and it’s been a great holiday season :).  SO…..

Dienstag:
Ha, this day was New Year’s Eve right??? That’s how eventful it was. We had to be home by 6 PM in our apartment, because its dark at 5 PM and people start getting crazy.  So the way we celebrated, we cooked some pizza, cleaned the apartment and updated the Area book.  My comp, Elder W, went to bed at 9:45. WAHOO!!! Party!!  But I woke up at 12 AM, not on my own account, because there was fireworks nonstop for about an hour. Drunk people and fireworks end up making, a crazy time. But ha, it was a sight to see, especially am morgen :)

Mittwoch:
We decided we were going to try to see how many drunk people we would see that day. 14 in an hour. The streets were covered with glass and so many fireworks and wow, Europeans know how to party apparently. But we had distrikt meeting to start off the New Year and it was great to be with this awesome distrikt we have.

Donnerstag:
So it was a hard, hard day. We had to take a train to Ansbach and then we would meet the Apars (senior missionary couple), the Reeders, to have a termine with Katholina.  I just felt like I was failing the Lord. I felt like the worst missionary. We have trouble working together because we see the work very different opinions.  I see it as not as something to get done, but rather have the opportunity to share Christ’s love for them. The meeting that we had was great. Katholina is a recent convert and she is friends with our investigator Chris. Chris had a night shift so he couldn't come this night. I really love Katholina. She has an amazing spirit about her and she is so willing, to strengthen her testimony. Her family hates Mormons and that’s been hard for her, but she is awesome and we taught about having faith in Christ. There was such a strong spirit there. After the appointment, Elder Wichtermann and I talked and worked out some stuff so we could still have the spirit with us. It’s been a challenge no doubt, but I have learned that the Lord loves us all so perfectly. As a representative of Him, I need to act like that, with everyone I come in contact with, including my companion.  I love him and want the best for him. And I will try to be the best example for him.

Fritag:
Ah the Millers. A fantastic day to have a visit with the Millers. We did some good service and the Sisters came with us.  It was the first time sisters have been over to the Miller family. But it was so good to see them and feel their spirit. The pictures I am going to send, ha is me using a power tool... that I forgot the name of. But it was really fun and kind of dangerous :)   Sister Millers, the sister in law, is home from the hospital and doing better.  She wants to come to church, and so this month, they said that they would come to church!! Ah it is so very exciting. But I love this family so much and Brother Miller has taught me how to build a lot of stuff.  I want to try that off my mission, do my own home improvements :) so fam, watch out! But we took pictures because we didn't know if I would be leaving or not. Transfer calls are tomorrow.....

Samstag:
So I am staying. Ha obviously from the title, we are staying here in good ol' Feucht with Elder Wichtermann. I love the transfer calls, but it’s really nerve racking and crazy.  You are so excited and it’s amazing to think that 270 missionaries are listening in one call. But I am excited to stay here. My ´Golden` buddy that has served here in Feucht, Sister Lyons, is transferred and a really good buddy I have made, Elder Miller, serving in Regensburg, is transferred too.  That makes me the only one in our Distrikt that has been here the longest.  I am grateful for this opportunity to make Feucht even better, share my love with these people and save some souls here down in Feucht :)

This week, was such a learning week. It was definitely hard. But I know, more than anything that the Lord, oh He is so mindful of us. I have been reading a talk that I read before, but this talk, needs to be read by every missionary because it’s a real, life changer. It’s called the Fourth Missionary. It talks about 4 missionaries, and what becomes out of them because of how they serve. It is a very spiritual talk. But the one thing that really struck me the most, was one quote about Change:
The Purpose and Central BLESSING of this life is CHANGE: It is to be changed to be more like Christ. It is to incorporate into your character, the qualities of His Character. It is to move from one degree of intelligence and capacity to the next, and from there till next, until you see God face to face and know Him as He knows YOU.

I know this to be true. He talks about how we need to ask ourselves, what do we want to become? Not an occupation, not who we are going to marry or what car we are going to have, but who do we want or see ourselves becoming? As emotional, as spiritually? How will it be to be around us? What will be our strengths? Our weaknesses? How will our testimony be?? I want you to take some time and just think about that for a little.

I know life is hard.  I know that there are challenges and trials that we may not understand or feel like there is no end or that you feel like that you cannot go any further. But you can. Sometimes we may feel like David fighting Goliath. But we need to remember, HE WON. And just like our Savior, He completed that trip and made it back to His Father, and fulfilled his purpose here on this earth. You cannot do it alone. And you don’t have to make this change alone to become a better person. Use the Power of the atonement. Of this I testify in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.


Love Elder Mayne




LOVE YOU FAMILY!!!!!! ha been thinking about you a lot and thanks for your warm hearts and thanks for talking to me a lot and taking time to write me. Have a great week, send it to people. Including non-members. :)