Changes in the Tiergarten

Yeah Mom, I have also become more grateful for our home ward, a well functioning ward isn't something you can take for granted. That dentist appointment sure sounds like it was a lot of fun, Mom. Oh Mom, I forgot to respond to your question. No, I actually didn't end up buying anything. Elder Mehr needed some stuff and I just wandered around looking at clothes that I had no interest in. If I can get away with it I'd like to make it through the rest of my mission without having to buy more clothes.

I feel you, Andy. I had to wing a 20 minute topic(or whatever on earth you call those in English) in district meeting because I had forgotten that I was assigned one. I was able to make it through, but it wasn't terribly well thought out.

Well you see Joey, that particular Elder just gets special privileges because he's a Turkish speaking Elder. No, but it is pretty cool, he and his companion in their mission call got assigned to the Berlin Mission to preach the Gospel in the Turkish language. Yeah it's crazy how smart kids be, there's a 7 year old chap in the ward here who was born in America but has lived almost his whole life in Germany and he pretty much speaks better German AND English than me.

Yep, President Monson's talks were pretty bomb, Dad. Perfect for sharing with friends of the church since they're short, sweet and powerful.

Pretty much the biggest change of this week happened yesterday at ward conference, where we got a new bishopric. We had a solid bishopric before, but the Bishop just never seemed to have the time to meet with us or discuss missionary work. The new Bishop on the other hand wants to meet together with us, the ward mission leader and the senior couple missionaries to discuss how we can work together to preach the Gospel. Also the member who was called as first councilor is the member that has been most active in working with us, so I'm pretty pumped.

District Street Display

We're still stuck in a juggling bout with our investigators and we've sadly literally--in a metaphorical sense, so not really literally :) ...--dropped the ball a couple times. In other words we've lost contact with a couple of them and things are still in the air with the others but we're trying to do all we can. The main problem right now is just a lack of time, though I also read this week a scripture about how time is a thing of men and not of God, so in God's work not having enough time probably isn't a good excuse. However our loyal and true friend Nezhdet from Bulgaria continues to come to church every week despite the fact that he doesn't speak English or German. We've had to get creative in finding people to translate for him, but it's been working out fairly well.

With the Hamburg Spanish Speaking Elders

We had exchanges this week with the Hamburg Spanish Elders, so I was able to work with the one and only Elder Castillo again. Ironically ever since he left we've started getting calls from other missionaries in Berlin asking for our help with Spanish appointments, which is exciting but also super challenging. The nice thing is that it brings me back to the start of my mission, where you just really have to rely on help from above to understand what on earth these people are talking about. We also fortunately have members who are willing to help us out. We're definitely going to try to invest more into meeting with Spanish speakers; there's a lot of untapped potential in that department. We've got a couple Spanish appointments lined up for this week...pray for us, haha.




A topic that has been pretty important for my whole mission that I've thought a lot about this week is the idea of conversion, or experiencing a change of heart. I thought about what it is that causes conversion, and it was interesting how in the scriptures that every single example I can think of has to do with listening to the word of God, usually through His prophets. The Nephites were converted after listening to King Benjamin's address. When King Lamoni was converted after hearing the words of Ammon, he talked to his people "and as many as heard his words believed, and were converted unto the Lord. But there were many among them who would not hear his words; therefore they went their way." (Alma 19:31-32). At the day of Pentecost in the New Testament the people who listened to Peter were pricked in their hearts and wanted to know what they should do. There are plenty of other examples but I was surprised how clear the answer was and how it isn't any different in our day. We have Prophets and Apostles, local leaders, teachers and the scriptures, all things that can speak to us and help us change if we open up to them and listen with a willing heart. Which obviously isn't always easy, but it's always worth it.

The church is true 😀. Love you guys, have an awesome week!

Elder Larsen