October 19, 2023: I hear there's a new hero in town

 Challenge me, if you dare.

This week was great! I saw a lot of little miracles, so it was nice to know God is looking out for me :) 

We had interviews on Thursday! We had to head out pretty early to make our way to the city of Düsseldorf, where our stake center is located. We got to play with logos and eat candy while we waited, and it was nice to forget how old we are for a few minutes. My interview went really well actually, last time it was very short but this time my mission president, President Cropper actually helped me with a lot of what I've been struggling with. To be fair I didn't really know anything for my last interview.

Our president calls the food döner (sounds closer to doo-ner) "doner"(doe-ner), but nobody's told him how to say it right for the past 3 transfers, and its pretty funny.

We we did some street contacting for the Düsseldorf Elders, and did our studies there as well. As soon as we finished, we got a text from our Bishop, asking me to give a talk on Sunday! Would've been nice to know before we studied, but that's okay. We stayed overnight with our Zone Leaders, and they decided to take the door off of their bathroom so one must announce themselves as they relieve themselves.

On Friday we woke up in Düsseldorf, and went to Zone Konferenz woot! It's always super nice to see all the missionaries in the Zone have a little family reunion. We had the wonderful opportunity to clean the whole church as part of our spiritual learning, which was interesting. I think they want us to keep our apartments clean or something (don't worry ours is fine). We also "buried our weapons of war" like the Anti-Nephi-Lehi's in the Book of Mormon. We wrote something down that we wanted to give up to come closer to the Lord, buried it in a teeny hole outside, and stomped on it a bunch. That was nice.

Right after that, I went on austauch with Elder Dodge from Mönchengladbach. I was unsure how it would go at first but it turned out really well! We knocked some doors, gave out 2 Book of Mormons, and ate homemade sucuck and chocolate chip cookies which I haven't seen in a long time.

We woke up on saturday, and helped with a service project moving a Ukranian lady from the top of an apartment building to the top of another apartment building. It seemed nigh impossible, but somehow we made it work  while we went to the second apartment the lady put cough drops in our pockets? We were so confused, but that's our reward for helping I guess probably won't be coughing anytime soon now. We went to the store for some nice German baked goods, and I found Peppa Pig juice! 

Sunday was the day I gave my talk! I was feeling mostly good about it, but a little worried about how my ideas would carry across into german and if the ideas would flow well because I only had 2 days to work on it. It actually went pretty well though! The Germans were impressed I think, but it's a lot different when I can think of the words I want to say before I write them than when I am in conversation with somebody. It was about how having faith is more of a decision we make, rather than something we simply aquire.

We were going to eat with Bishop and his family, but they were sick, so we just did our studies and weekly planning. Also all of the Omas are mad at us for us not bringing their dishes back yet

Monday was a great day! A little miracle today confirmed the power of prayer to me. I was feeling a little off, lacking energy this morning. During studies I prayed asking for the energy and attitude to do God's work effectively. We didn't have any lessons planned, so we hit the streets. We contacted for nearly 3 hours, and it was the most fun I've had contacting yet! We even split up a bit and I did some by myself for the first time, which was sometimes difficult because my conversation skills aren't great yet, but it made me feel great. Unfortunately it got cold, and we had to leave, but it was amazing how I felt afterwards because of prayer and knowing I worked hard. I know the Lord strengthened me to do his will :).

On Tuesday It was amazing, we had no lessons planned. I really wanted to have some lessons though, so I prayed that we might be able to have some. We ended up having 3! One with Maria, the Greek lady we met a couple weeks ago, and with Jakob, the kid who we once had on baptismal date. He spoke the most I've ever heard him speak before, which was awesome because he usually just answers all of our questions with "mm...ja" or "mm...ne". we also had a mini lesson with a new friend named Jassir. Really a little miracle. 

we had D-Rat on Wednesday! we went to Krefeld, and the Zone Leaders listened in to make sure no ruckus was about (we are definitely not succeeding from the mission). We ate our usual fill of Sucuck and Chill, and went home for some studies. We had an activity with the young adults in our ward, which was fun. We made burritos and tacos, which was definitely interesting from a German standpoint. They didn't even know that they're from Mexico. Still tasted good though! 

For P-day today we just cleaned a lot, went shopping, and i bought a winter coat. I also bought a Bugatti beanie, because why not? It was the same price as all of the other beanies. 

Miracles are real, big and small. I promise if you pray, and you look for them with faith, you will find them in your life. God manifests himself in all things, great and small. 

Much love

Bis nächste Woche :)

Elder Tage Rex