March 21, 2024: Sometimes you have to bleed to know

 That you're alive and have a soul




Great week this week! I slacked off last week and didn't write an Email, but last week was good too don't worry. 

We've been trying to find new friends, which has actually been good! We have found a lot of people that were dropped a long time ago and were willing to meet with us, which is unusual. Most people who were dropped hardly ever respond, at least that's how it was in my last area. It's good to finally have a flow of lessons coming in!

We met with a referral on Friday named Christian (we have 4 different friends named Christian), and he is like 6'6", just towering over us. He was super cool though and is excited to learn more about the Restored Church of Jesus Christ. Good thing too, because we rode on an hour long bus to get to him. 

On Saturday we were super excited, because we had a service project, a triple lesson planned with a member present, game night, and then another lesson just after. One by one however, all of the lessons canceled on us, and our perfect day was left to dust. We still got to play Pickleball with a member for game night though, which is always fun. 

Luckily this week church was *mostly* normal. Last week however, was insane. about 30 minutes before church, the teacher for the Elder's Quorum canceled, and asked us to fill in for him. We were busy, but he needed it so I figured I could prepare for it during Sacrament meeting. Not ideal, but it is what it is. We passed The Sacrament for the branch, and then as I went to sit back down, an english speaking member from Ghana asked me to live translate his talk for him. Little did we know, it was over 30 minutes long, and lasted the entire meeting! He unfortunately hadn't planned for translation time. And, one can only be so fluent in a language with 8.5 months out, and there are definitely more qualified people for it in the branch, but it kind of worked out? Just very exhausting. He also had an amazing talk, so I felt bad for him because he was very well prepared. Anyways, after that we went to Elders Quorum without a lesson plan, and just kinda had to go on the fly and talk about missionary work and how we can do that through Love Share and Invite. It was a hard crowd, but we got through it. We even got them to laugh once! I was dead after that, but at least now I know that I can do hard things. That sounds cheesy, but it's true.

We met with a cool dude named Rand who was dropped a while ago. He seemed to enjoy our conversation so hopefully he sticks around!

Zone Conference happened on Tuesday! It was awesome! It always is, but Heidelberg and the senior missionaries know how to throw a party for lunch. I snagged a total of 6 kinder eggs to add to my collection. 

At Zone Conference we each received a printed version of our mission calls. It was an amazing reminder for why I'm here. There's a quote on it that says "As you devote your time and attention to serving the Lord, leaving behind all other personal affairs, the Lord will bless you with increased knowledge and testimony of Jesus Christ and His restored gospel... Greater blessings and more joy than you have yet experienced await you as you humbly and prayerfully serve the Lord in this labor of love among His children". I can testify of that joy that comes from truly committing to the Lord's work. There have been periods on my mission where I have been a less consecrated missionary than others, and it is so, so easy to forget that joy! It's fascinating really, how quick we are to forget the blessings God gives us. As I learn step by step, how to commit myself to this work, leaving behind all personal affairs, I see so much joy in life, despite rejection, despite disagreements, despite anything else around me. I know that there is joy to be had in this Gospel, and that is my witness!

We went straight into an exchange with our ZL's after Zone Conference, and I was with Elder Kartchner. He roped me into going on a run in the morning, And let me tell you, those were some of the most beautiful 3 miles I've ever jogged in my life. Heidelberg is just a perfect German city. I should have a picture or two below. 

As far as how district leader-ing is going, I'm definitely learning a lot, but so far it has been going good, and everyone in the district is still alive and I think that has to mean at least something!

Ich hab euch lieb,
Elder Tage Rex

























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