Time flies! I hit 9 months this week and feel very in denial. My comp will be hitting her year mark though, so I won't complain!We had set some pretty high goals for this week and fell very very short of them because nothing ever goes as planned! But that's okay because it was still a good week.
The highlight of the week was definitely going to hear from Elder Bednar. We got to wake up at 4 am and then travel to Frankfurt. It was fun because all of us missionaries in the northern part of the mission pretty much filled up a whole train car and had it all to ourselves. Sister Pettitt even brought crepes for everyone!
The first thing Elder Bendar said to us was that he was not here to talk about ipads! We actually won't even be getting ipads for a couple of weeks. The time was mostly used for a big question and answer type of discussion. We answered questions he asked and he answered questions we asked. We talked a lot about our ability to choose, repentance, forgiveness, pride, and a change of heart. It was so amazing to hear answers about some pretty big doctrinal topics from an Apostle of the Lord. It really strengthened my testimony that we do have a prophet and apostles on the earth today! As I have studied my notes fromFriday, I have been able to set some great goals missionary wise and also for after the mission. I feel like I am learning so many things that I'm going to need later on in my life and I'm grateful for all of these experiences!
We also set a baptismal date with Richmond this week! I met Richmond in a train my second day in Düsseldorf. I sat next to him and he smiled at me and then we just started talking right then! He is from Nigeria but has been here for quite a while. He said he wants to get closer to Christ again and I told him we could definitely help him do that! He has already read some in the Book of Mormon and is determined to keep on reading because he knows that is how we will find the truth. We are a little bit concerned because we haven't been able to contact him for a few days..but we will keep praying!
We had some more great contacting experiences this week. We got kind of stuck in a tiny town last monday night and freaked out a bit because we couldn't find a bus stop! But we finally found one and it didn't come for a while, so we decided we would do some street contacting except that the streets were basically deserted. I said that we should just talk to every person we see and we started walking. After a while we saw a girl on the street and talked to her and she said she would love to meet with us! It was so cool because I am realizing how much God will bless us when we give some effort.
We were also having a very slow day on Saturday. We decided to go by on a couple of people and no one was home or had interest, but on our way home I started talking to a guy sitting across from me. Turns out he is from Ukraine and has struggled to figure out his faith. He was so incredibly polite and we just had a great conversation the whole way home! I was able to give him a Book of Mormon and he said he would try it out.
The longest contact of my life occurred on Friday on our way home from Frankfurt. It was a whole 3 hour conversation. I sat next to a business man and he was incredibly friendly and sat a little too close to me, but that's okay! I ended up telling him all about our lives as missionaries and also explained a lot about the Mormons. He said we were the nicest people and he was so impressed with our work and with our values! I was able to give him a Book of Mormon as well. He said he didn't want to meet with us, but he gladly gave me his business card in case I ever needed anything haha.
I guess I would just have to say that I love being a missionary.
I love you!
Sister Funk
The highlight of the week was definitely going to hear from Elder Bednar. We got to wake up at 4 am and then travel to Frankfurt. It was fun because all of us missionaries in the northern part of the mission pretty much filled up a whole train car and had it all to ourselves. Sister Pettitt even brought crepes for everyone!
The first thing Elder Bendar said to us was that he was not here to talk about ipads! We actually won't even be getting ipads for a couple of weeks. The time was mostly used for a big question and answer type of discussion. We answered questions he asked and he answered questions we asked. We talked a lot about our ability to choose, repentance, forgiveness, pride, and a change of heart. It was so amazing to hear answers about some pretty big doctrinal topics from an Apostle of the Lord. It really strengthened my testimony that we do have a prophet and apostles on the earth today! As I have studied my notes fromFriday, I have been able to set some great goals missionary wise and also for after the mission. I feel like I am learning so many things that I'm going to need later on in my life and I'm grateful for all of these experiences!
We also set a baptismal date with Richmond this week! I met Richmond in a train my second day in Düsseldorf. I sat next to him and he smiled at me and then we just started talking right then! He is from Nigeria but has been here for quite a while. He said he wants to get closer to Christ again and I told him we could definitely help him do that! He has already read some in the Book of Mormon and is determined to keep on reading because he knows that is how we will find the truth. We are a little bit concerned because we haven't been able to contact him for a few days..but we will keep praying!
We had some more great contacting experiences this week. We got kind of stuck in a tiny town last monday night and freaked out a bit because we couldn't find a bus stop! But we finally found one and it didn't come for a while, so we decided we would do some street contacting except that the streets were basically deserted. I said that we should just talk to every person we see and we started walking. After a while we saw a girl on the street and talked to her and she said she would love to meet with us! It was so cool because I am realizing how much God will bless us when we give some effort.
We were also having a very slow day on Saturday. We decided to go by on a couple of people and no one was home or had interest, but on our way home I started talking to a guy sitting across from me. Turns out he is from Ukraine and has struggled to figure out his faith. He was so incredibly polite and we just had a great conversation the whole way home! I was able to give him a Book of Mormon and he said he would try it out.
The longest contact of my life occurred on Friday on our way home from Frankfurt. It was a whole 3 hour conversation. I sat next to a business man and he was incredibly friendly and sat a little too close to me, but that's okay! I ended up telling him all about our lives as missionaries and also explained a lot about the Mormons. He said we were the nicest people and he was so impressed with our work and with our values! I was able to give him a Book of Mormon as well. He said he didn't want to meet with us, but he gladly gave me his business card in case I ever needed anything haha.
I guess I would just have to say that I love being a missionary.
I love you!
Sister Funk