LETTER #53 - FRANKFURT

Hi!
First happy late birthday mom! I really wanted to write you a letter by your birthday and then by dad's as well but I didn't get it done! I'm way sorry. Happy birthday though. Hope it was good! I will write letters soon. By Christmas for sure. Hopefully earlier but I shouldn't make promises, because it’s hard to find more than 5 minutes at a time ever. But yea, I'm doing good mom. It’s pretty much winter yea, it’s really cold and not cool. It got cold this week. I heard it snows here in Frankfurt so that’s good though. Winter without snow is just cold dark gray and ugly. Snow makes it look good for a little at least. St. George winters are good though ha since there is still sun. But yea winters hit. I think I'm good on warm socks for now. Yea though I'll just get them here if I need some more. And no I didn't do the burn a white shirt thing. We aren't allowed to use fire mom! I can't remember right now if it’s in the white handbook but president Ninow said it so yea. Those rituals are not allowed at least in this mission. So I'm still good on white shirts ha.

 
Anyway though! My new companion is Elder Moffat, he is from Pinetop-Lakeside, Arizona. This is his last transfer! Weird. Actually last transfer was his last but he was able to extend. So he goes home at the end of December. It will be fun working hard with him his last transfer!

 
Said goodbye to Heidelberg on Wednesday and hello to Frankfurt! They are 2 very different cities! I really like it here so far though and I'm sure my love for the people and city will just grow with time.

 
I've been out for a year though!! Ah man I can't believe it. I only have that much more time left!! Like Eric I've done a lot of thinking about this lately. So here we live in an apartment building that is like right across the street from the Frankfurt stake Center and the Area Office for the European central area. There are tons of missionary couples and office workers that live in our building its weird you see missionaries all the time. But anyway, Wednesday night we were at the church for a meeting we had with the ward. Then Elder Moffat told me that the departing Missionaries would be coming to the church to have their testimony meeting. It was pretty interesting because he was supposed to be with that group of departing missionaries. When I thought about them coming to the church though I got a really weird feeling and wasn't sure if I wanted to see them. I only knew 3 of the 13 but yea. Elder Chidsey, Elder Bailey and Elder Malyon. I was able to do a few tausches with Elder Malyon when I was in Nordhausen and learned a ton. You could just feel and see how much he loved the gospel and being on a mission.

 
I was standing in the foyer just watching as the missionaries were coming into the building. One by one, then I saw Elder Malyon come through the doors. He had this blank stare on his face, it’s hard to explain. I felt way weird watching them all come in. Elder Moffat and I then had our meeting and were able to catch the last part of the departing missionary’s testimonies. Elder Malyon went last, then Sis. Ninow and Pres. Ninow spoke shortly. It was a good/strange experience. These 13 had served 2 years, and I was almost exactly at 1 year.

 
After the meeting they all came out and were talking in the foyer and I just stood and watched them all thinking about when I would be in their situation. It was a thought that just kind of kicked me in the chest. Hearing their testimonies, thinking about my past year and the year I have ahead of me. Every second literally counts. I can't waste any time. I am forever grateful for the example of these other missionaries. I realized then really how grateful I am that I still have a whole year.

 
President must have seen how I felt because he came over and talked to me for a bit about it all. I'm sure there is, but if there was no other reason why I was transferred to Frankfurt, it was so that I could experience that night. I can't explain how grateful I am for the past year or how grateful I am that I still have another one. I can't explain it or really say it, but I can show my gratitude to god. In that I do everything I can, to achieve my purpose as a missionary.

 
On that night when I watched them at first come through the doors I had this fear that I was done or something I don’t know. Or that I would be soon. Like my heart started going way quick and all then I calmed down and realized I still have a year. It’s crazy though!! It’s like I'm sliding down this huge steep hill way fast and I'm trying to grab grass to slow me down before I hit the bottom but the grass just won't hold me. That’s especially what I felt like I think. I thought about it throughout the night a ton and since. And I figure I just have to enjoy the slide. I don’t know, I don't really have to go home. Like return to the place yes but, who I am now is lots different from who I was when I left home. And who I will be at the end of my mission will hopefully be lots different from who I am now, and I won’t go back to who i was. I could continue telling you more about my thought process for the last week but I'll stop ha. I just love being here. I love being a missionary and am so so grateful that God has given me the opportunity to help in this great work. ....plus grandpa never really came home from New Zealand, I don't have to either ha. Actually I do want to tell you about one more thing I learned lots about the last year.

 
Just about how much God blesses us as we do what we can! I talked about it a little last week. How important it is that we do what we can. When we do that though something amazing happens. We do all we can, work hard, remember Christ in all we do, and then we are promised the spirit. The spirit is a part of the Godhead, therefore a God. So we are promised that the spirit will work through us. When this happens we have a God working through us. Thereby destroying the boundaries of what 'we' can do.

 
We as humans have limits or restrictions. God has none. As we do all we can and then allow the spirit to work through us these limits are no longer there. We can then do anything God sees necessary. I've experienced it for myself and seen it with other missionaries and just members. You don't have to be a missionary for this to happen. It can happen in all aspects of your life. The gift of the Holy Ghost is a gift that I think often goes underestimated. I continue to learn more and more about it and how much of an amazing gift it is. So often though I think I can do something up to a certain point or achieve something specific so I do all I can to do that thing and in the end I am able to do much more. It’s so cool and such a blessing.

 
So yea, don't be ok in living within your human restrictions. You're all children of a God. Act like it. Put off the natural man and your natural restrictions and let the spirit work through you in all you do. Mosiah 3:19. I hope everyone is doing good. Sorry I couldn’t write yesterday, we were in a meeting! Also next Monday I won’t be able to write so it will be Tuesday again. But then it should go back to normal. Have a good rest of the week and enjoy Arizona! I love you all so much!
Elder Puriri