Monday, May 26, 2014

Letter #44 - The classic Missionary life: crazy, testifying, loving, no sleep, and a whole lot of AWESOME.

You know you've been working hard, when you feel like right as you fell asleep, someone played a joke on you, and the alarm clock goes off after two minutes. But, it's actually light outside and 6:30am. :) CRAZY week, and lemme sprech about it. :)

Montag:
VOLLEYBALL-IN! Ha. Super fun time with the Zone playing volleyball. We have a sister in our Zone that played before her mission. So, she taught us all how it is done. :) We then stayed in Nürnberg, because we were sleeping over at the Zone leaders. I went on a split with my old trainer Elder Allen! We had a great time together, and some good dad son time. ;) We stopped by on a couple people, and found an awesome guy. :) We then, split again, kinda, and I was with Elder Brown and Elder Boam. We slept over at the Zone leaders, because we needed to wake up early in the morning to catch a train to the big city, Frankfurt!

Dienstag:
Woke up at 5:30. Yippee ki yay! :) Ha. We had to catch a train at 7:30 to go to Frankfurt. We went to the Golden Trainer Meeting, for all the new goldens. President invited a certain amount of people, just to see how it is, and basically prepare us for the storm when it comes. :) I got to see all my homies from the MTC. I had a great time just being there and learning. Maybe I am a little scared to train someday, but it was a great time. I was outside all day. It was 800000 degrees. I was in a suit using German deodorant. It really doesn't work out great. :) After this meeting, we had to travel back. We took a bus. Ha. On a bus for 4 hours. But, it wasn't so bad. We had a great time chillin', and had a lot of snacks. We talked about what we learned. It was a great time. :) We got home at 9, and so we really couldn't go back to our areas. So, we slept over again at the Zone Leaders. The APs were there too. All of us, after jumping in bed, talked for quite a while. Love these fellas. :)

Mittwoch:
We finally tausched back, and hit the ground running. We had an appointment with our new investigator Stefie. She is awesome! Such a great appointment. We weren't sure exactly what to teach her. Rather than setting expectations, we tried to prepare the best we could. It went fantastic. One of the best lessons ever. But, the sad thing is, she is just getting started with school and testing. She doesn't really have any time to meet, because she also has to take care of her 2 year old girl. So, she wants to meet, but doesn't have a lot of time. So, we are just going to keep in contakt until August, when she has time. Ha. My heart was wrenching after this lesson, just because she is so awesome. :) Mittwoch was awesome. :)

Donnerstag:
I need to find a better way of doing this. This way needs a little extra change. :) On donnerstag, we had a semi-good day, set up for a wedding that a familie in the ward was having. Then in the night, we went to this young single adults Bible circle that a person invited us too, and it was sooo AWESOME! Ha everyone there is so open to the Gospel, and wants to come closer to Christ. It was amazing. We walked in there, with our shirts and ties and such, and got some weird looks. People thought we were Jehovah Witnesses. Then, everything changed when we were just chill. We got to know some awesome people. :) We want to keep going there, and just bring a whole box of Buch Mormons and set them on the table. We would be like, here, nimmt eins bitte (take one please). :) Then, as we proceeded walking home on clouds after this meeting, the weathers and tempests roared. The thunder smacked, and rain came pouring down (narrative talking mode). IT POURED. I took a couple videos to remind myself of it. :)

FRITAG:
Had my last interview with President before he is released. :( What a man. He is one of the most charitable men I have ever met. He made sure to make me promise to come to Feucht after my mission. He just gave me all of his love. :) I am going to miss him. Ha. Then after, we got to go on a split!! I went to Graph with Elder Jackson. :) We had a great time. We visited a couple of members, and I met the in-laws of the drummer of Neon Trees??!?! WHAT??! Cool, right? There is a Mormon message of her, and its super cool. Ha. Being on the base in Villsek, in the area from Graph, was just like a little part of 'merica and it was great. :) Maybe a little trunky, and super weird to be just talking in English, but super fun. :)

Samstag:
I was still in Graph. We got to go play basketball on the base in Villsek. What a day. :) I met a couple of the families, and got to ball it up with some people that were in the army. It was super fun. :) We then split back, and we got to meet with our wonderful Asian, Zehn (Jen in English). She is awesome. She said the most heartfelt prayer I have ever heard on my mission. It was so amazing, and the spirit was so strong. You could tell that she knew someone was listening. WHAT AN AWESOME EXPERIENCE! I love teaching so much, and just testifying. If that's my job, to teach someone how to pray and now they know how, then so be it. But, wow! :)

I am going to say two things: 1- nothing feels better, than being a tool in the Lord´s hands, and seeing someone come to a truth; and, 2- I LOVE MY FAMILY. Family is the most important thing on this earth. Satan will do everything in his power to break it up. But, we need to know that it is for eternity. We need to do everything we can to keep it going. :) Love life. Love mission life. I love the Gospel. :) Ciao!!

Elder Mayne

 Who's the guy?


 Frankfurt, and my buddies from the MTC


     
 Nice bag - probably comfy.

 We got some American food!!!!

 I know how to make a bed, military style now. And, I am proud of it. :)

Where is that one at?

Monday, May 19, 2014

Letter #43 - Humbly and thoughtfully, is when miracles proceed.

THIS WEEK WAS GREAT! This week FLEW by. But, that doesn't mean that I didn't enjoy it. Maybe I enjoyed it too much, because the weekend wasn't the most enjoyable...

Montag:
We went to Röthenburg! The right one, not the one that is in the other mission area. :) It was super pretty. It was a zone p-day pretty much. So, it was just fun to be with the other missionaries. We met so many people that spoke English and were from America. It was like a big reunion of America, just in Germany. :)

Dienstag:
We had a GREAT Distrikt Meeting with our new Distrikt Leader Elder Brown. We then met with another one of our investigators, Herr Mezler. He is a good hearted fellow, and has been meeting with the missionaries for years. He is also a Jehovah Witnesses, and hasn't made any progress with any of the missionaries. But, he wants to know the truth, and it was a great lesson.

Mittwoch:
What a great day of faith! Elder Cole and I are working great together. We both just go out there with a sure sense of mind. We know that with the Lord, anything is possible. We set goals that will make us reach, and we saw some great miracles because of it. We went and did some student wohnheims, so student doors. We found a couple of people that were really interested in what we had to talk about. :) It was great. We then met with the awesome family in our ward, the Auras, and ate some frankish sausages and potatoes, and had a good talk about life.

I actually, want to cut my weekly update so I can just be personal right now. Some of you might be saying, "Oh no, here comes the preachy missionary again." But, just stay with me for a moment. I just want to say, that I have a testimony of miracles. On Friday night, I threw up and other things happened during the middle of the night. I had to stay home for 2 days, because I needed to be by a bathroom. But during that time, as I was eating my alphabet soup, I got to basically read all of the life of Christ, in the Bible, so the Gospels. But, I felt through the scriptures, that He was really on this Earth, and He showed us the way. Not only did He show us the way, but he showed us how to have Eternal Life, and how to find happiness. There is no doubt in my mind, that He lived. He is the Savior of the World. He is of whom I testify. I can testify all day long about Him. I know that He is just waiting for us, to take his word, to take his example, and to follow it. Believe in Him. The Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ, and is the keystone of our religion. Either the Book of Mormon is true, or it is not. Either Christ set his true church on the Earth today, or He did not. Either our Heavenly Father knows us personally and has a plan for us, or He does not. But the only way we can know for ourselves, is if we ASK. Pray and know for yourself. I love this Gospel. I know that the Lord speaks to us again today, and we can receive confirmation and revelation, that these things are true. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEK!!! I LOVE YOU ALL, AND HOPE ALL IS WELL!!! You're all something special in my heart. :)

Elder Mayne







Monday, May 12, 2014

Letter #42 - TRANSFERS, FUN, AND ALL THE ABOVE! (PLUS an awesome time on Mother's Day.:))

WELL, I got to see my wonderful FAM! I love them so much. They are just the thing that a missionary needs. I get a little extra spark from them. :) I am so blessed to have a wonderful family and friends. A special s/o to my boy Garrison who is going to be joining me in the Frankfurt Mission! #missionarylife. This week was great, and I'll let you know why... :)

Dienstag:
Everything was a blur for Tuesday and Mittwoch, wegen (because) Elder Givens was parting from the mission after a wonderful two years. So on Dienstag, we did a lot a prep for his departure. Then, we met with the wonderful Lilia, and it was FANTASTIC. We met with her boyfriend, too. It was great to talk to them, and feel their love. Lilia has an amazing testimony, and she is making the steps towards baptism. It is just so amazing to see the light that comes into her life. :)

Mittwoch:
Pretty much Elder Givens last day. We met with the Webster Familie, and had a great lesson. We then were traveling. We had to catch a train to Nürnberg, and it was POURING outside. So naturally, I enjoyed myself. Elder Givens couldn't, in his new nicely moist suit. :) We then talked to a lady, and promised we'd read the Quaran. Then, we came to Nürnberg to sleep over at the Zone leaders apartment. There were 6 other missionaries as well. All of them had to catch the train to Frankfurt early in the morning. :) So, the apartment was quite the party. Ha. It was fun to catch up with all the missionaries, and have a good time.

Donnerstag:
Woke up at 4:30. Bleh. Aber (but), it was really a great day. Said goodbye to Elder Givens, Elder Ludlow, and Elder Wohjan because they were all "dying." My new comp, Elder Cole, is great. We were in the same group at the MTC. He is a ginger, super funny, and well, we do work. :) We have a lot to do, because they cut our area down to only two elders. It was originally 4. But we are excited, have set a lot of great goals, and love life momentan (currently). :)

Fritag:
It was a busy day. But, we honestly don't remember what we were busy doing. I know that the spirit was involved, and we got a lot of stuff done. So, ya. OH WAIT, we taught the Cuttler family, a new investigator, that has read the Book of Mormon 3 times. The son really wants to be baptized. Ha. I love this family. The dad is american, and has stayed here for 20 years after serving in the army. :) GREAT FAMILY. Super awesome.

Samstag:
Super busy too. We met with Jen, a Chinese woman with a cute little family, that is going to school here. We felt the spirit so strongly. It was so great to testify of the Plan of Salvation, and to see her smile and have chills. She felt the spirit. And Asian babies are super cute too. :)

Sonntag:
I LOVE MY FAMILY!! HAPPY MOTHERS DAY! It was a great day. Lilia came to church. Elder Givens (Andrew) and his family came to church too. It was great to meet them. Then, we went to the Pabanzs to have dinner and to Skype the fam. I don't want to brag, but I am so grateful for such a wonderful family. I chose right, I am telling you. :) It was such a great time. The thing that made me the happiest, was that they were happy. :)

Right now, I am just filled up with joy. Not for anything I have done, but for how much the Lord has blessed me. I was talking about this with Elder Cole. Why do I deserve all these blessings? Why do I get to be surrounded by all these amazing people? It's been that way throughout my entire life. Back in the Ward I lived in, the American Fork 14th Ward, I grew up from a little Deacon to a Missionary. I met some of the most amazing people. They influenced my life in unimaginable ways. The neighbors, the leaders, the teachers, the examples that simply just lived their lives righteously. They were an example to me, whether they knew it or not.

I had wonderful friends at school. We had awesome experiences, fun times, great times, and many adventures. There is just SO MUCH to be thankful for. I just want to give a shout out to all of you back home. I just wanted to let you know, that whether you talked to me once or not at all, or just gave that small example of service, you impacted my life. I am so grateful for that, because it has changed me for the better. I am so grateful for this wonderful Earth life. This is the time to prepare to meet God. That means helping others prepare too. :) I love life. I love my family. I love missionary work. I love my Savior Jesus Christ. :) You all have a fantastic week. :) LOVE YOU ALL!!!


Elder Mayne













Monday, May 5, 2014

Letter #41 - The Week of Change

Well, we are switching up the weekly letter. This week, was a lot in preparation for Elder Givens leaving. But, we did a LOT of spring service for the famalie Zink. We had a ward party on Friday, where we played soccer for HOURS. I feel like I'm European now because I am holding my own against the Germans. :)

But, I just want to talk about change. How we all have a potential. That potential, is about becoming like Christ. We so often compare ourselves, to every other person out there in the world. The world is like a big competition. It's a battle to see who gets on top every time, with no logical or renowned winner. The question we need to ask ourselves is: "Why do we compare ourselves with people that are so different from us, when they all have different potentials?" The Atonement of Christ, makes us change and put off the natural man inside of us (Mosiah 3:19). Why is it that we think to ourselves "oh, I can't do that" or "that is something I can't do, I am not good enough?" It's not coming from God. It's Satan trying to ruin us, to stop us from climbing to the top of that mountain labeled: Ultimate Happiness. We can do so much. We can accomplish ANYTHING, as long as we trust in the Lord our God. Here is a quote from Marianne Williamson:

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

I love this quote so much. It really is true. When you are faced with a task, or something that looks impossible up ahead, think of your capability. Don't think about the past, or what you "couldn't" do before that. YOU are the only person that is holding YOU back. For myself, I need to walk-the-walk, and believe in my own words. Sometimes you feel like you can't face the challenges ahead, or that you are dealing with right now. You feel like you should just give up, and become exactly the "same." But, we have this illusion in our minds, that we can just stand still. We cannot. We either are always going forward, or we are going backward. The Plan of Happiness is for us. We should be always, continually changing. If we choose to not let ourselves change, we are going against our Heavenly Father's plan. As I came to all these thoughts, I thought to myself: "I will not let myself do this anymore. I have to change. I have given everything to the Lord up to this point, except this one weakness that I have. I am going to stop telling myself that I cannot accomplish the things the Lord thinks I can do." I have vowed to myself, to always say: "What would happen, if I did believe?"

Our Potential starts in our minds and in our hearts. We need to turn them over to the Lord. I love the Lord with all my heart. I know that if I trust in Him, and humble myself and lay my weaknesses before Him, He will turn them into strengths. This is my testimony, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Love you all. :) Please send this to people. Not because it is good. But, because maybe someone needs it. :) I think my blog is back up to date. It's "Called to Serve Him", so look it up (http://elderadammayne.blogspot.com/). Gosh I LOVE YOU ALL!!! I cannot wait to see my fam on Sunday. :) Happy Mothers Day! :) Love you all.


Elder Mayne





Service, painting and the missionary breakfast in the Zone before transfer calls. :)


Haha. It is a manikin, don't tell anyone. :)