Monday, February 25, 2013

Duisburg, Germany


First full week here in Duisburg and I have some pretty fun stories for you guys.  I will start off with what happened last week, but I forgot to mention it in my email.

So apparently there are still World War II bombs just laying around Duisburg waiting to blow up, because one morning we got a call from a member telling us that we are not allowed to go out because they found a bomb next to Hauptbahnhof and they need to detonate it.  So we, obviously, walk outside to see what is going on... It is like a ghostown, two police officers come over tell us that we need to go inside because we are in the evacuation zone...  So we spent the first half of the day just chillin inside because there was a bomb close to our appartment.  Welcome to Duisburg.

We also have a inactive member who is in a crazy persons house.... That has been super interesting.  I am not quite sure why she is there, we think depression, because she is completely normal, but the other people there.... Not.  We walk in one day, and this lady just starts screeming at us and yelling how much she hates us she slammed like 10 doors in a matter of like a few minutes.  She the exlaimed really loudly that if we left our bags there she was going to use them to wipe her.... yeah.  Then storms into a room, slams the door, comes our, looks the wrong way and yells, thank goodness their gone, turns the other direction and jumps from being startled and then just yells Oh no not again!  And that was only the first time going to this place.  There have been other visits.  But I will have to save some stories for later, it is an interesting place.  I have to admit, I never thought I would be going there on my mission.

We have been super busy this week.  I have never taught so many lessons, and it is increadible how much nicer the people are here in Duisburg.  I think it has to do with the fact that there is a University here and there are a ton of younger people.  The younger people are so nice and they all want to talk to us, they think we are wierd, but they still want to talk.  So I dont have a problem with that.  I mean we are kinda weird.

We have one investigator, Guarino, who has been my favorite since coming here.  He owns an italian resturant, and every time we teach him he cooks for us.  Oh my gosh, it is the best food I have ever had in my entire life, he is like a legit super amazing chef and imports everything from italy.  Wow.  It is the best.  And he just proposed to his girlfriend this week, so that after his wedding he can get baptised! I love missionary work.

One thing I learned this week is that just becaue you have done it once, doesn't mean you are a pro.  I tried to cut my hair again today, thinking, how hard could it be, I did it once and it looked good.... No.... I now have like absolutly no hair, I am pretty sure this is the shortest it has ever been. I dont know what I was thinking. Oh well, I have like atleast 20 more tries to get it down before I get home.

We had a way cool experience the other day where we read the scriptures to a member in intensive care.  He has Lukemia (dont think I spelled that right), and swine flu at the same time, and is in a coma.  It is one of those half comas where he can still hear, but just not talk or move.  And we were able to go and visit him and read the scriptures and pray with him.  We were all dressed up in a medical gown and masks and whatnot, but in this moment, the spirit was so strong.  Something that I have realized on my mission is that the spirit is strongest in moments of loving serive that resemble Christ's life.  That although what we did was nothing big, it was rather simple, it was what the Savior would have done.  He would have been there for the man who needed his comfort most, even in times where it could seem hopeless.  These are the moments where we really learn how our Savior served. Simply, Lovingly, and Unconditionally.

Viele Liebe,

Elder Blackley

Monday, February 18, 2013

First Transfer!


Fist email out from the Dirty D, and it lives up to its name.  I dont smell it as bad anymore, I think I am just getting used to it, but the first day I was here the whole city smelled like pee, and a hint of ripe poo.  Everyone just said that was normal and that I wouldn't notice it soon... Great.. Not to mention on my second day here a pigeon pooped on me... Welcome to Duisburg...
 
Despite the smell and lack of anything beautiful, I love Duisburg.  This city has so much going on, and it is like 5 times bigger than Hagen.  We have a university, which means lots of young people, and it is just a huge city.  Not to mention that the work here is going crazy.  Before in Hagen we were having like 8-12 lessons a week, and that was a huge improvement from when I first got there when were were having 1-5.  But just over the weekend here in Duisburg we had 10.  In three days and in a normal week about 20... We have so many investigators and so many people that we are teaching, the ward is huge and super awesome.  I am so excited.
 
Not to mention my companion is so cool.  He was a pitcher for BYU's baseball team, but try not to hold that against him, he is still great guy.  His name is Elder Hutchings and he is one transfer younger than me and he has great German.  It is kinda weird to be in a companionship where both people can speak german.  Makes things super easy.  I am loving it.  He is a super hard worker and has worked really hard to build up Duisburg into the missionary city that it is.
 
The ward here in Duisburg is super young and really active in missionary work.  We have already in the past 4 days, contacted more referals than my whole 6 months in Hagen.  This ward is so awesome.  I dont really know what to say more about Duisburg, I am so stoked to be working here with Elder Hutchings.  We have had some crazy appointments already, found like 6 new investigators in the past 4 days and it is just going great.  I love it.
 
The hard part about this week was saying goodbye to everyone.  I spent half my week in Hagen, and then arived in Duisburg on Thursday, but in those first couple days where I had to say goodbye to everyone I think we had 7 meal appointments... Thank goodness my mom thought I was going to get fat when I left, because I needed the extra 4 inches of pants this past week. And on the Wednesday we had grilled chicken and french fries, chinees buffet, and mexican food..... did not mix well...... 
 
The good news is that if I ever want to go back to Hagen, there are about 5 couches that I could sleep on.  I am going to miss everyone there.  It was an amazing way to start out the mission and I have learned so much, but I am kinda excited for the change of scenery and the opportunity to meet new people.  Like our Italian Investigator Guarino, who owns a super fancy italian resturant and gives us a free dinner every week :)  Oh yeah.... Thats right :)  Duisburg is going to be so amazing.
 
I am sure there will be plenty of fun stories from Duisburg, this place is crazy and I think I fit right in.  So I am excited to see how the weeks unfold.
 
Viele Liebe,
 
Elder Blackley

Friday, February 15, 2013

Week Thirty-Two

This week was eventfull.  We basically ran around the whole week doing a billion different things and every time people told us that they were sick.  There is some nasty cough and flu that is going around, and it seems like every member and investigator caught it at the exact same time.  But nonetheless, we still had a few awesome appointments.  But..... on Saturday we had transfer calls.... And I am getting transfered... On Thursday, I will be traveling to my new area, Duisburg.  After hearing that I was leaving, it was kinda just a mad rush to call about a billion people to set up appointments so that I could meet with everyone and say goodbye and then at the same time try and figure out what Duisburg is like.  All I have learned is that Duisburg is dirty.  Really dirty.  It is like a steel manufacturing city, and all the missionaries call it the ´´Dirty D´´.  So that should be fun.  But it is on the Rhein River, so I am hoping that it cant be that dirty.  But it is alot bigger than Hagen, and has a University, so I am pretty excited about that.  But unfortunantly, I have to pack now... which means I have to clean too... Not looking forward to that.  But we managed to pack every day full of goodbye appointments, I am not exactly sure how we are going to be able make all of our appointments, lots of running.
However, one of the coolest appointments happened before transfers.  We went to visit and inactive member, Bruder Kambi.  He is from the Congo, and speaks no english, and very little german.  Which makes it kinda hard to communicate with him.  And on top of that, he is a little menally challenged, but one of the nicest people ever.  We decided we wanted to stop by and invite him to church this week, I was giving a talk, and we wanted to see how things were going.  We shared a little bit about the Love of our Heavenly Father, which went well, but the coolest part was the closing prayer.  He offered it.  As he prayed he simply bore his testimony to our Heavenly Father.  After he finished, I looked up and there were tears streaming down his cheeks.  It was increadibly humbling to see this man become so emotional as he shared his simple testimony with our Heavenly Father.
Our first of the goodbyes was with Cremer.  He has been a steady investigator for almost 4 months.  It is crazy to think how much time I have spent here in Hagen and with all of these people I have grown to love.  I know that the Lord's work will go forward and I am exctied to hear how these people will continue to progress and come closer to our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Chirst.  Cremer is an amazing man and I know that he will be a member of the church soon, he is progressing so fast and it has been so much for to watch his excitement and love of the gospel grow and expand as we have been with him.  The next, and one of the hardest, wasMerhawi, he has been in Köln for a while because of his studies, but he is finally back and back on track, so he will be getting baptised in a few weeks.  Duisburg is not too far away, so I think I will be able to come back for the baptism, which I am extremely thankful for.  He is just the most amazing guy, I love him.  It is weird to think that I have known him for almost 5 months.  I look back and it really doesn't feel like it has been that long.  The time has really just flown by.  Another family that was hard to say goodbye to was Sandra and Jozsef.  They were the first investigators I had here in Hagen, and over the past 6 months, have become some increadible friends, and a family that I will definitly be visiting here when I come back to Germany.  Ugh I hate goodbyes.  It is hard when you have spent the last 6 months in an area, and all you have done is serve the people and think about how you can help them, you grow to love them so much.  It makes transfers so hard, but it makes me very thankful that I was able to serve 6 months here in Hagen.
Church on Sunday was hard.  I tried not to tell very many people that I was leaving, I hate goodbyes, but there were a few families that were hard to say goodbye to.  Thankfully we have the next three days to pack in about 10 member meals... I am going to get so fat.... Oh well. I was also able to give a talk this Sunday.  Before my mission, I talked to my dad alot about giving talks by the spirit and not writing them out.  Well... it is alot harder in a foreign language.  But from what everyone said, it went well enough for people to understand, which was not because of me, the only way they could understand my was because the spirit, my german was exceptionally confusing for those 10 minutes.  But walking out of the church, my last sacrament meeting here in Hagen, was weird.  I honestly didn't expect transfers to be so hard, but they are.  I think that on Sunday alone, I must have cried like 10 times. But I know that the Lord needs me in Duisburg, and I go happily, the leaving is just the part that is hard.
Sunday night we were with one of my favorite people in all of Germany, Bruder Kramer.  I don't really know what to say about Bruder Kramer I feel like there is just too much to say I dont know where to start.  He was the first person I met here in Hagen, my very first day he took me to an american resturant and from that moment on I made about 10000000 memories with him.  I love that man, and he will be a life long friend. There are too many memories of Hagen too list them all, but here are a few of the highlights of the last 6 months, most of them will have been in previous emails.
Carying a bed, table, and two chairs, 5 kilometers.
Teaching an entire camp of refugees and only one person translating it into like 3 languages.
Crazy indian guy who has a huge man crush on me.
Best friends with the town drunk
Being Friends with the Hagen criminal life.
Merhawi and his amazing story.
Weinachtsmarkt.
First döner, and just all the amazing food.
English class with the Graefs.
Miracles and Miracles and more Miracles.
And then memories with an entire ward and all of our investigators.
There are too many memories to write them all down, but I love Hagen and all the people here that I have met.  There is something special about being in the service of our Heavenly Father and the love that you have His children.  I am sad to go, but I know the Lord has a plan and I am excited to see that plan unfold as I begin my service in Duisburg.  I will try and send more pictures and whatnot next week, today for the rest of P-day we are meeting up with the Siegen Elders and going to see a castle, so I do not have a ton of time for pictures and whatnot, but hopefully next week I will have alot more time.
Viele Viele Liebe,
Elder Blackley

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Wedding Pictures

Unfortunately, Brandon will not be here for my wedding in May. To include him we asked if it would be alright if we could get married on his birthday. He said yes. May 18, 2013. But, one of his requirements for me getting married "without him" is to include a life-size cardboard cutout of him in all our family pictures. This week he sent us the pictures we could choose from for the wedding. He is such a goof, but I love him.










I love my little, Hobbit, German, stud of a brother. :) 

Monday, February 4, 2013

Catching Up on Pictures


I have no idea what was going on here.... 

ARRIVED IN GERMANY!!!!!









Week Four


So crazy week this week in the MTC as we are getting closer and closer to head out.  It all began with an awesome experience hosting the new missionaries.  Every wednesday a couple hundred new missionaries come to the MTC and are pick up by some of the senior missionaries.  And our district was assigned to help them.  It was so much fun, the excitement that the new elders brought as well as getting to meet new people, which doesn't happen much in the MTC, was crazy.  But I think the highlight of that whole experience was dropping a new elder off in his Mandarin Speaking room.  Your first day in class your teachers only speak to you in your mission language, and the face of that poor elder was priceless as his new teacher came up and started speaking to him.  And I thought german was rough...
 
The next big event last week was travel plans!  So we actually know we are leaving now, I never thought the day would come but on the 28th of this month (in exactly one week) we will be on a plane for germany.  2:32pm next Tuesday we will be flying to Denver, where we have a two hour layover, and then straight from Denver to Frankfurt.  We arive in Frankfurt at 11:35am the following day.  I am so stoked.  And for some strange reason that have given me the responsibility of being travel leader... So I hope we do not get lost. Haha.  But since we got our plans, focus has been close to impossible.  The excitement from all the elders is contageous and I just can't seem to think about anything except getting to Germany and meeting all the wonderful people.
 
On Sunday, we got to watch a talk by Elder Bednar, titled Recognizing the Spirit.  I highly recomend this talk to all those who havn't read it.  I am not really sure how to get ahold of it, because it is a MTC talk, but I am sure there is a way.  It was so inspiring, and an answer to many prayers.  I love Elder Bednar, I feel like as a missionary, every word that is spoken relates exactly to me and what I am looking for right now.  I am so thankful for this opportunity to serve a mission and be a instrument in the hands of our Savior.
 
And then on Monday, we got to go to the outside world.  So my companion Elder Chicky broke his perminant retainer, and so we got to go to the orthodontist. And it was fantastic.  A two hour break from studying and riding in a car.  I kept my eyes peeled for anyone I could have known, but unfortunanly I did not get to see anyone.  This may sound strange, but riding in a car was honestly a big highlight for me.  As I sat around in the waiting area for my companion, in the coolest orthodontist office ever, I heard Call Me Maybe on the radio.  So that pretty much made my day right there.
 
Later that night, my companion and I got chosen to do an example teaching for the new elders and sisters this week, so we were part of a small group of less that 20 elders and sisters to go to a meeting about how to demonstrate teaching.  It was one of the coolest workshop experiences here at the MTC.  Usually when we have workshops, there are like 50 elders in a room and only one teacher, but this time it was so much more personal, we had multiple teachers and we really felt the spirit.  We focused on feeling love for your investigators rather than just teaching them the gospel.  And then on wednesday we get to help the new elders in a workshop experience, which should be a lot of fun.
 
Only 7 more days left here in the MTC and we are going to try and make the most of it.  I have really enjoyed my experience here but I can not wait to go to the field.  Next time I email, I will be in Deutchland! I love all you guys so much and please feel free to email me or write me.  Next week I will put in new address, but my email will always be brandon.blackley@myldsmail.com.  I love this gospel with all my heart and I am so greatful for my Savior Jesus Christ because it is through him that I have felt the greatest joy of my life, being a missionary, and the real work hasn't even started.  I am so stoked!

Week Thirty-One

This week I wanted to talk a little bit about trials.

In order to explain what I have been thinking about lately, I will have to give you some background information about someone that we have started working with.  We have started working with someone who used to be a cancer doctor.  It has been tons of fun talking to him, because I can use my limited medical knowledge, or atleast what I can remember.  The hardest part has been talking to him in german.  But I have really enjoyed talking to him about his research and ideas, he is really a brilliant man.  But unfortunantly, he has also had a very hard couple of years.  His mother was diagnosed with cancer a little while back, and in order to fight the cancer he gave up everything to help.  I mean litterally everything.  He gave personally almost 300,000 euro and sold everything that he owned, he was super close to beating this case of cancer, but a little over a month before the treatments should have been successfull, his mother died.  The problem was now that he had nothing.  His wife had left him, he had accumulated tons of back taxes and was in debt now, got fired because of he didn't pay his taxes, and is now unemployed and has nothing.  That is atleast how I have been given the story.

I think it is something very basic, but trials are there to help us.  This man is an increadible man, and was doing a lot of good before this trial in his life.  It is increadible to listen to him talk about everything and see the impact that these trials have made on him. He has gone from someone who always had the opportunity to think about other, as a doctor, to someone who only can think about himself and the situation that his life is now in. It is so simple, but the Lord needs us to focus on others.  But in this particular trial, the simplicity of thinking about others was taken away.  I think that is what has become the biggest trail for this man.  The way to overcome trials is to simple follow the Lords example and turn outward, something that is easy as a doctor, but as someone who is drowning in debt and has nothing, outward is not always the direction of focus.  The happiness that this man used to have did not come from the material possesions or money that he had, because he freely gave that away, but rather his happiness was found through helping others.  How do you help someone who thinks that their worth and ability to help others has been taken away?  I think, like always, it is centered on pride. The inability to concentrate on the basics.  He can still serve, he can still help, just not in the same compasity as before.  There was a talk given by President Uchtdorf called What Matters Most.  It speaks about times such as this and the importance of focusing on the basics.  Trials are hard, they come in a variety of forms, and in a variety of streangths.  However, the same principals stand for all trails, turn outwards, and focus on the basics. I haven't yet seen the full impact of these trials on this man, but what I can say is that the Lord knows him, and there is nothing that brings us closer to our Savior than these two simple things.  There are people all over the world experiencing different things, but there is one thing the same, we are Children of our Heavenly Father.

Viele Liebe,

Elder Blackley

Week Thirty


This week was rough.  I always knew that missions were not always easy, but this week was exceptionally not easy.  There is just a lot of things going on here in Hagen, and then this week it seems like everything just stoped or took a turn for the worse. One investigator is moving, another went on vacation, another got in a car accendent, it just didn't work out at all this week.  It was kinda a slow week, and then on top of that, we traveled alot this week.  We went to Siegen twice this week, which is a two hour train, one way, and then we had two street preachs in other areas.  That meant that we didn't have hardly any time here in Hagen to work, and then when we were here, we had a lot of time outside in the freezing cold and I was sick all week.  But it is a new week and new opportunities.  We have a lot of things planned for this week, and I am sure things are going to get better and we will continue to see miracles here in Hagen.
 
I dont want to spend this whole letter complaining, so I thought that instead of talking about my week this week, I wanted to share something that I learned.
 
It has to do with Eternal Heavenly Father.  And the literal meaning of the word Father.  I think that alot of what we do concerning our Heavenly Father is done because of His role as God.  But the role He plays as Father is something that should be emphasized.  The nature of a father, the idea idea that all our father is, is what we will become, is something that aplies not only with our earthly father but our Heavenly Father as well.  That just as we grow and look like our earthly father, perhaps we have blue eyes or maybe the same smile, there is a spiritual development that is accociated with the father of our spirits.  That as we recognize our divine potential, we develope those things that our Father in Heaven has.  Charity, humility, patience, diligence, virtue, knowledge, usw. 
 
Our desire to develope these characteristics is sometimes hard, and often thought of as personal.  But just as our earthly father provides for our earthly development, our Heavenly Father provides for our spiritual developement.  We are not alone in this strive for perfection. 
 
I don't have much time left, but I would like to say that I know that my Heavenly Father lives and loves me.  I know that there is a happiness that awaits all who rise up and realize thier eternal potential.  We are so much more than we have become, we are sons and daughters of the Most High, if we are to become all that was intended, we must realize the perfect love our Father has for us, and then rely on all He has provided for us, in order to grow up to be just like our Dad.
 
Viele Liebe,
 
Elder Blackley

Week Twenty-Seven


So this week was not super exciting, just a couple of interesting experiences.  All of our investigators are still on vacation, we are hoping they get back this week, but as for last week, there was not much going on.
 
But last week after writing emails, we didn`t have much planned.  It was the 31st, or Silvester in Germany,  which is apparently a huge holiday here.  And because it gets so big and out of control there was a rule that we had to home by 6pm.  This meant that we could basically do nothing all day.  The only thing that HAD to get done was haircuts.  Elder Olson and I were looking almost homeless for the past couple weeks, because we have been so busy every other P-day.  So we figured that with nothing to do, we could finally cut our hair.... However, it turns out that on the 31st of December, it is Hagen cut your hair day.  The entire town and thier cousins wanted to get thier hair cut that day, and there was no way we were going to wait 2 hours to get our hair cut... So we did what ever other logically 19 year old boy would do... Buy a razor and do it yourself...  I have to say, for first time doing it all alone it doesn`t look too bad.  The left side of my head is a vew centimeters shorter than the other side, and I may have almost been bald in the backside, but it is a learning process.
 
The best part was that we thought we were so smart, because we stood in the tub to cut our hair, and then we could just take a shower and it would require no clean up.... Apparently hair doesn`t go down a bathtub drain the way we thought.  Needless to say, we both have shorter hair (much shorter), we spent 30 euro more than ususal, and we still look homeless :)
 
The rest of the night we stayed in and played games together and had a little party and then went to bed on time, only to be waken up at 12 by what sounded like 100000000 cannons going off.  I have never in my life heard so many fireworks.  The whole sky was lit up it was crazy.  The next day, everyone left there trash on the street and there were thousands, maybe even millions of firework shells on every street.  Apperently, in Germany, Silvester is a big deal.
 
So after getting yelled at, we decided to try our luck in another stadt.  It was getting a little late, and I had completely forgotten that the buses were running on holiday schedual (which means never).  So we took the last bus out to the middle of nowhere, with no option of ruturn...  That was fun.  8:30 at night, not knowing where you are (I might have forgot the map too) and having no buses.  Well we walked alot that night.  After about 45 min of just following the road signs that said Hagen, we made it to some small city and asked someone how to get home.  They said that there was a train station but they were not sure if trains would be running this late on a "holiday" (WHO CELIBRATES THE FIRST AT 9PM!?!?! (except my dad)).  After two trains not showing up, and almost deciding to walk the last 7 km home, the last train finally came. Kinda a scarey night.
 
And so is new years, which we found out the next day while doing doors.  We start doing doors on the 1st, and almost no one was home.  And when we finally found someone who was home, they just yelled at us and asked us if we hated families.  I never knew that it was such a big holiday.
 
Other than that, not much happened.  A few appointments, but none with any of our investigators.  Everyone was either already out of town or going out of town. What this week definitly taught me was that, even though I am finally "one year older and wiser too"  there is still a bit of common scense missing, thats just always going to be empty :)  But what fun is life without a few experiences :)
 
Viele Liebe,
 
Elder Blackley

Week Twenty-Six


So I didn't send out an email last week because it was Chirstmas Eve, so there should be alot this week, but I am not promising, we will see how it goes.
 
The week before chirstmas was not a very busy week.  Here in Germany, or atleast here in Hagen, everyone is super nice around Chirstmas, but they don't want to meet, or they are out of town.  For that reason, we have had a lot of time to knock on doors.  Which is how we spent a majority of our time the week before Chirstmas, mixed in with a few appointments.  The three real big highlights of last week started on thursday.
 
First, we had an amazing appointment with an investigator named Merhawi.  I am not sure if I have talked about Merhawi before, but he is an investigator from Aritria (or something like that) Africa.  He had been an eternity investigator in Dortmund, but he recently moved out to Hagen, and for the past two months we have been meeting with him.  Well about 2 weeks ago, we had a way good lesson on prayer.  I wasn't really sure where we were supposed to go after that, he has been taught so much, and his interest was more in the missionaries than what we were actually saying. The entire week between our lessons I could only think about how we needed to teach baptism, he had said he was already taught that alot, but for some reason, we just needed to teach it.  Well... We got to our lesson, and he got super serious and told us that he had been praying every day, and that he feels a huge difference in his life, and he would like to pray in front of us... Wow!  And then as we were talking about baptism, he just kept saying, "it all makes sense"  and then at the end of the lesson, he said he wanted to get baptised, it is the right thing for him.  I love Merhawi!  He is just the coolest guy, and then when we had our lesson with him this week, he told us that he just wants us to teach him all the commandments so he can change his life, because he wants to do everything he can to prepare for baptism.  I am so excited for him.  That was Highlight number 1.
 
Second, came to us on Friday.  We spent a big chunk of the day cooking on Friday.  We have problems getting appointments with a couple investigators, so I figured we could make them pies and that would give us a good excuse to go over and wish them a Merry Chirstmas.  So on friday, we made 5 French Silk Pies.... 5..... It was a long day in the kitchen, and I have never seen so much butter and sugar in my life.  But they all turned out great, or atleast edible.  But while we were baking, a man came and rung our doorbell.  That doesn't happen often as a missionary, so naturaly we were way exited and rushed to the door, only to find an internet and telephone salesman.... But he wasn't a very good salesman, because instead of getting us to buy anything, he ended up leaving with an appointment to meet with us in the church and talk about the gospel. I just thought that was the perfect way to do doors, reverse way.  Wait for them to come to you.  Haha. 
 
Third, last but definitly not least.  On Saturday, we were able to go to Dortmund to watch a baptism for Stefan Bond.  Stefan was an investigator in Dortmund, but was found here in Hagen, on my first day in Germany.  Elder Butcher and I found him while walking through Hagen one day, and it was increadible to see how we, Heavenly Fathers Children, are part of His wonderful plan.  He called us in Hagen earlier in the week and asked if I could be one of the witnesses for the baptism, SO COOL!  He remembered us!  He said there we two missionaries who talked to him on the street, one who had great german, and one who couldn't speak at all (me :))  It was an increadible experience and I am so thankful that I could be apart of this increadible work.
 
That was pretty much the end of the week before Christmas, a normal week, but as always, had its highlights.  As much as I love Christmas, I am kinda thankful that Chirstmas week is over....  It is so stressful as a missionary, becasue you have a million member invites, and you cant be late, because it is all like super family traditions, and the buses and trains travel like never, needless to say, we litterally ran alot this week.
 
It started off with the best Christmas present EVER!  Being able to skype with my family.  I just want to take this time to say that I love my family so much, I miss you guy, but I know that there is no where in the world I would rather be that here in Germany helping these people find the truth. 
 
So in Germany, Chirstmas is too special to only celebrate in one day, so there is Heilig Abend (Christmas eve) then 1st Christmas day (25th) and 2nd Christmas day (26th).  I dont know why we don't do that in America, it is like the best thing ever.  But it meant that we were running around visiting members for all three days.  It was alot of fun, but when thursday finally rolled around, I was glad to just have a normal day of missionary work.
 
The rest of the week when by normal, everyone is still out of town till after the new year, so it was kinda slow.  But I am hoping that this week everything will be completely back to normal.  There is so much work here in Hagen to be done, that I need all the time I can get.  I feel like I can see the end of my days here in Hagen... I have almost been here 6 months, so it is time to get work done.
 
One thing that I have been thinking about alot lately is how much our Heavenly Father loves us.  I never really thought about it much before my mission.  I always grew up thinking, good, but could have been better.  Not exactly hard on myself, but just always having higher expectations.  I think for this reason, I have never really felt the pure love of my Heavenly Father.  I always knew He loved me, but there is a joy that comes throught realization of how perfect this love is.  For me, this came through others.  It was while serving others, and focusing on the needs of others, that I felt how much our Heavenly Father really loves every one of us, and not only loves us, but needs to see us happy.  As a missionary, I have had the opportunity to love complete stranges unconditionally, and at sometimes unknowingly.  It is something I can not completly discribe, but all I could possibly relate it to, would be the pure love of our Heavenly Father. I am so greatfull for this opportunity to serve and grow, I know that my Heavenly Father loves me, He knows me, and there is a love there, that could never possibly be fully comprehended, but on occations, we can feel it through serving others.
 
Viele Liebe,
 
Elder Blackley

Week Twenty-Four


This week has felt like an eternity.  But today in my letter I wanted to focus the people we are teaching a little bit.  

So on Monday, we had one of the best lessons of my mission so far.  It was with a man named Herr Cremer.  We got to his house thinking that we were going to talk about something completely different, but the lesson turned into one of the best Plan of Salvation lessons.  Our Heavenly Father's plan seemed to be everything that he was looking for.  Everytime we introduced the next section, he just loved it.  And the miracle was the fact that it was all in german.  I don't know how, but I can kinda speak german now.  That lesson was a huge tender mercy for us.  We haven't had a lesson, where the investigator shows real excitement, in a long time.  It was amazing to see the transforming power that comes throught knowing what that we all our children of our Savior, and that this plan is a plan of progression and happiness.  As we progressed through the lesson, you could just watch his face light up with excitement and desire to know if it is true.  That lesson, was a great start for the rest of the week.

However, as the week moved on, it turned into more doors and more rain and more cold.  We had just got out of Church on Sunday, and our eating appointment fell out.  So we were without food, without an appointment, and it was raining hard.  In the past two weeks, we have done hundreds of doors, and thousands of klingles.  I was so tired of it, and I just wanted to collapse.  But it was raining and so streets were not really an option.  So we went out and did doors in this area that I just wanted to go ''explore''.  Sunday morning there was about an inch to an inch and a half of snow, and then it started raining, so it was all slushy, it was pouring while we were outside, and we were wet, cold, and tired.  But we stuck it out for almost 4 hours.  It seems like it always has to be the last door, and Sunday it was.  I was about to throw in the towel, but we decided we would finish up our last street in the neighborhood, Gluckstr. (funny right?).  We klingled the last door, and someone let us in.  I have been out 4 months, and done hundreds probably thousands of doors, and yesterday, was the first person to ever let me in. In a time where all I was thinking about was how hungry and tired I was, and how this is just hard.  The Lord knows us,  He know where we are, who we are, and what we need.  And what I needed at that time was Michael.  He is a young guy, studying in college, I would say around 25ish, but I have never met someone so excited to read the Book of Mormon.  Everything we said he loved, and he just wanted to read it and meet with us and learn everything and pray, he was honestly a golden contact.  I have seen miracles and I have felt the Love of Christ, but it never ceases to amaze me the amount of attention that He gives to EVERY child.  Even the ones freezing in Hagen, getting doors slammed in our faces.  He gave us exactly what we needed, and when we needed it. 

Another part of that story that has become very important to me, while thinking back on it, what the decision to go to this area of Hagen.  We had been in the area early this week, and there was really no reason to go back, except for the curiosity that I had to know what was in this area next to it.  The spirit of the Lord works through us in times that we may not even think He is there.  I have always imagined the spirit as a burning sensation or clearity, and sometimes it is, but I think it is important to note, that the spirit is not limited to these feeling alone.  This feeling of curiosity and my idea to just go check out this area, was a spiritual prompting.  I had no clue at the time, but what is important is that we are asking for these opportunities.  I feel like I have spent a lot of time searching for guidence of the Holy Ghost, when I already had it.  Sometimes we need to trust that the decisions we are making, are inspired, even when they may not feel that way.  If we are living a righteous life, and asking for guidance, the Lord has already given us this gift. Which means that you will, be guided, and the decisions that may not seem guided, are because they do not need alteration.  I am not sure if that all makes sense, to the people who are reading this, but I dont have much time, so I cant really read over it to make sure it sounds good... So good luck understanding what goes through my head :)

The last big tender mercy of the week was our lesson with Sandra and Jozsef.  This is our investigator family from Hungary.  I love this family, I feel at home when I am with them, there are kids running around, a billion things going on, and super busy.  I love it.  They are some of the most loving and nicest people I have ever met, and last night we had an amazing lesson.  It is amazing to me how the spirit of the Lord works.  As a missionary we (or atleast I am) always concerned whether I have the spirit while I testify.  But last night while with Jozsef and Sandra, they were saying how every time they meet with us, they know it is true.  There is just this feeling that it is true, listen to these guys.  They talked about how they wanted that all the time, they wanted to know for themselves, not just when we say it.  That was a tender mercy for me.  It was an answer to a billion prayers, and I was so excited to see this family make progress and recognize the spirit.  This family is prepared, they are so amazing, and I am so excited to continue to watch them progress.

There are miracles all around us.  Here in Hagen we really have been blessed, and I feel like it is just the beginning here.  There are so many people who the Lord is preparing.  These are only a few of the miracles and tender mercies that we experienced this week, but I am fully confident that there are more to follow.  As these families find the gospel and develope thier relationships with our Savior, there is nothing greater than this joy.  I have seen people light up as the gospel is explained, and seen the healing power of our Saviors love.  I love being a missionary, in the rain, in the sleet, in the cold.  The opportunity here to serve, is increadible.  And I could never be happier.

Viele Liebe,

Elder Blackley

Week Twenty-Three


This week was long, and not very full. We kinda had a slow week this week, the christmas season is starting, and so alot more people are busy.  But we did have a lot of opportunity to do service and knock on doors.  I have to say, I have found something worse than -30 degrees, 30 degrees and humid.... It is just misserable when you freeze down to the bone.  But walking up stairs keeps us fairly warm.  We pretty much walk to the moon and back everyday, keeping me from getting fat :) 
 
This week, I have to say was hard.  It was the first week that I have looked back on the week, and just thought... HARD.  I knew that a mission wasn't always going to be easy, but what I didn't expect was the type of difficulty that we faced this week.  It is hard for me to watch people reject something that I know will help them so much.  There is so much happiness and hope to be found through out message, but there is not even a desire in most people to even try.  It was especially hard this week.  I am not saying that I am getting discouraged, because that is defiantly not the case, but it just kinda sunk into today that missionary work, is just that, work.  But it is a work full of joy.  
 
Elder Olson is having fun here in germany, we spend a good couple days doing doors (ringed a couple thousand klingles), but still manages to keep his spirits high.  It has been a delight to work with him and see how the Lord prepared Hagen for him.  We have also had the opportuntiy to do lots of service.  This week alone, we moved 2 washing machienes, 2 refrigerators, and a diswasher.  Along with an entire household.  Apparently here in germany, when people move, then take everything... like cabinets and kitchen counters.  Weird....
 
The big news of the week here in Hagen is SNOW!!!  We had the first snow fall this week, and I have heard (not been there yet), but there is accumulation in Lüdensheid.  I am so excited. 
 
I don't have much more to add about the week, we had a lot of time to knock on doors this week, (had a guy come naked to the door, and a guy almost sick his dog on us...   fun fun fun) but I did want to close this email with a spiritual thought. 
 
It comes out of Matthew 4.  I was doing some studying, and reading some talks and there was something that I really liked.  The Joseph Smith Translation of this verse, changing the meaning in a very significant way.  In the original text, the Lord, is ministered to by angels, but in the translation, the Lord send angels away.  This takes place after an increadible trial in the Lord's life, He had just fasted for 40 days and 40 nights, and been tempted by the devil 3 times.  But in this time of extreem trials, he never once thought of Himself, but rather turned outward and ministered unto others.  He knew that John was in prision and was in need, so he took this opportunity to serve.  The Savior is the ultimate exaple of service, but what I find increadible is that in an instance when most people would turn inward,  the Savior turns outward. 
 
Viele Liebe, 
 
Elder Blackley

Week Twenty-Two


I don't have much time this week, we have things to get done this week, but that is ok because not much happened.
 
So the big news was that we had transfers this thursday, and I had to go down to Frankfurt to go pick up my new Golden.  But getting down to Frankfurt was quite the adventure.  So the trainers have a meeting wednesday night, so Elder Lymon and I (the only two trainers from the Dortmund Zone) met in Dortmund to go down to Frankfurt together on Wednesday morning.  We had our tickets already and it said that we were leaving at 14:28 from Dortmund.  Little did we know, that what they meant to say was from Düsseldorf... I dont know why it said Dortmund, but we missed our train and ended up missing the first 2 hours of our training meeting and paying 100€ in order to make it down to Frankfurt on the next train.  I do not know how they still trusted me to train... But by some miracle they think I am responsable. 
 
We eventually made it to Frankfurt and the last hour of our meeting before we went to the hotel to spend the night.  It was kinda fun being on the other side of the whole operation.  It brought back fun memories of being sweaty and nasty and tired and worried.  Haha, those first couple days in Germany were the best.  But then thursday we found out our new companions.... My new companion is Elder Olson.  He is from Sandy, Utah, and is an excelent new missionary for Hagen.  I am super excited about the next two transfers, he seems to be really motivated and excited to work hard.  We have only been together for like 5 days, and we have been super busy, so I do not know a ton about him, but I am sure there will be more info to come.  Hopefully there will be a picture with this.
 
Our district got 4 new missionaries, Elders Olson, Shepherd, Roberts, and Davis.  There are now two sets of Elders and a set of Sisters in Dortmund, they are doing so great there.  But taht was pretty much all the big changes here.  Elder Butcher is down in Kaiserslauten, and loving it.  It was super sad to say goodbye to him, I am bad a goodbyes anyways, and when you have been with someone every second for three months straight, it is even harder.  But I guess thats the life of a missionary. 
 
Transfers ate up like two days this week, so it feels like this week has just flown by, I dont really remember what all happened except for the fact that it feels like I have spent an eternity on trains this week.  Another super busy week, and it doesn't look like it is going to slow down for a while.  I hope that means that we are doing good, because we litterally have almost no time for anything except appointments now.  We are just always traveling and meeting with people.  It has been so much fun, I know I say this alot, but I love my mission.  I am so happy here.  Sorry that this weeks letter is a bit short, next week will defiantly be longer.
 
Oh and thanksgiving was weird here.  I didn't even realise that it was thanksgiving untill after I was already in bed for the night.  CRAZY... maybe Elder Olson and I will have a make-up thanksgiving sometime this week, because last thursday we forgot. 
 
Viele Liebe,
 
Elder Blackley

Week Twenty-One


This week has been crazy!  It has been super busy and so much has happened I just dont even know where to start.  We were so busy this week, like I said when I first got here in Hagen, we normally had about 2 or 3 lessons a week and 0 investigators.  Well just in the past week we had 14 lessons and we are up to over 9 investigators and the work here in Hagen is booming.  We have been running around like crazy the last couple weeks, but things are really starting to pay off.  We are defiantly seeing the fruits of our labors.  So I am going to go day by day again.

Monday-  We had a way sweet member appointment.  I think the members are finally starting to warm up to me.  It might have to do with the fact that I am starting to understand them finally.  But it was really fun.  But the highlight of the night was running into our little thug crew.  So last week I said that the guy who got his throat slit died, well I have to correct myself, he lived.  Not quite sure how, but Timo, our contact, told us all about it, apparently they are friends.  He also told me that if we ever need someone killed or need anything illigal, he knows how to get it for us.  So we have some pretty sweet connections here in Hagen.

Tuesday-  I am not sure how we get roped into this every single week, but we were back at Bruder Schlesinger's house. (the guy who hoards all the crap).  But this time he wanted our help setting up dressers in his room.  Well if I had to discribe it, I would say,  It was kinda like playing lifesize Jenga with 10 dresser pieces in a room full of extreemly fragile "important" figurienes.  We tried about 10 different combinations before Bruder Schlesinger told us that they did not all belong to the same set... that was an hour of extreem frustration that could have been completely avoided... I do not know how we always end up there helping him, but I have so many stories from him.  We then had an amazing visit with a man we met doing doors. I will come back to him on sunday's section (his name is Cremer)

Wednesday-  Today we figured out that Fikret was coming back to Hagen!!  So our little refugee stress ball is back in my life now.  I love the guy but I have going to have a billion gray hairs before I leave Hagen, and it is all going to be because of him.  But then we went over to another member's house for dinner, TACOS!!!  I have been craving tacos forever!!!  And they lay everything out on the table and I am so excitied, but german tacos are not anything like mexican tacos.  For those of you who have not been to germany, germans are afraid of spice.  They have delicious food, but it is all about as mild as ice cream.  I kid you not, I have heard a german ask why something was sooooooo spicy, and all that we did was add pepper........ Sad I know.  But if you can imagine that mentality with tacos... It was kinda a disappointment.  But the thought was nice.

Thursday-  We had a zone meeting, which was so much fun. I have said this before, but anytime missionaries gather together, it is special.  There is just a special spirit there and you always leave inspired and so uplifted. It was a lot of fun.  Elder Butcher and I gave a lesson on miracles.  Pretty cool stuff.  But then the rest of the day I was in Hagen with Elder Liebelt.  We were on a split together.  What a funny guy.  He is like the epidomy of goofy clueless elder.  I love him.  We had an amazing lesson with an inactive family, the Gens.  Thier 8 year old daughter wants to get baptised, and she wanted us to teach her the lessons, so we were teaching the Plan of Salvation.  But at the end of the lesson, sister Gens asked if she could say the prayer!!!  That was a huge miracle, because she told elder Butcher, before I got here, that she doesn't pray anymore!  So for her to ask us if she could pray in front of us!!!! SUPER AMAZING!!! Great day.  The funniest experience with Elder Liebelt was listening to him explain Karate to me.  Apparently before he went on a mission he wanted to start MMA, so he took Karate, and got up to yellow belt.  But he spent almost 45 min explaining different things about karate to me... I didn't have the heart to tell him that I did Karate for almost 8 years.... Haha... It was funny he was trying to dumb it down for me and whatnot..  I thought it was hilarious.

Friday-  We met Fikret again!!!!!!  And right off the bat he just complicates my life.  So first off he asked if the church could tell the government that we are going to take care of him.... NO..... So then he says he wants to get baptised.  He said he doesn't care if he gets baptised here or in macedonia, but he knows it is true.  Cool, but the whole fact he is a refugee and wants to stay in germany is super hard.  My whole head is spinning because of him, I am not quite sure what to do with that guy.  We also met with a new investigator, Abraham, a man from Cuba.  Really interesting, not quite sure what his intentions are, but we will soon see, we have another meeting with him tonight, so I am hoping he makes some progress soon.

Saturday-  Well my whole life turned upside down on saturday.  We had transfer calls...... So this was like doomsday.  And Elder Butcher is leaving, he is headed to Kaiserslaten.  I am really sad, Elder Butcher was a fantastic trainer, and will always be an amazing friend and an incredible missionary.  I have learned so much from him and his example with stay with me for the rest of my mission.  I am really sad for him to be leaving, I have no clue how I am going to get around Hagen.... Especially since my new companion is a Golden... Brand new....  Yes, I will be a trainer, the good news is that, that guarntees that I will stay in Hagen for the next 3 months, but the bad news is that, that means there will now be two missionaries in Hagen who have no clue whats going on.  I really hope I do now destroy this town, I can barely speak the language and I am honstly scared to do anything, because I feel like I am going to mess things up.  But that is exactly what is so wonderful about the Lord's work.  The fact that it is the Lord's work and so He will always be there.  I am sure that the next two transfers are going to be full of interesting stories and crazy adventures and tons of miracles.  So for those of you who are still reading my weekly emails (I assume less than began, I am not the most interesting writer).  Keep me in your prayers I am going to need it.

Sunday-  PRIMARY PROGRAM!!!!!!!!!  Pretty much the best sunday of the entire year!  I love the primary program, it is the best, I could never say enough good about it.  And then to top of this amazing day, we had another appointment with Cremer.  And it went fantastic!  So we were talking and I just had the distinct impression to share a scripture and bare testimony.  I did that, and right after all he said was,  Was muss ich tun?  Translate, what must I do?  SWEET!!!!!  He promised to read daily and pray!  It was such a tender mercy.  It was the perfect ending to an amazing time as a Golden.  The last two transfers have been so much fun, and I could not say enough good about Elder Butcher.  I am going to miss him like crazy but I know that here in Hagen there is a work to be done, and they need me and my new golden.  We are going to see miracles these next two transfers,  Hagen is ready.


Viele Liebe,

Elder Blackley

Week Twenty


So this week I realized that I am basically living in the hood, the hard streets of Hagen.  I always thought that Hagen was a nice little suburb town a little south of Dortmund... But I was mistaken apparently.  So we were at out english class this week.  We have a english converation course every week on tuesday that we put on.  But one of the people there informed us,  not sure if it is true, that Hagen has the second highest crime rate, behind Berlin.  I am not quite sure how true that statement is, but what he told us next, apparently he saw.  So in the Fußgängerzone, which is like town center, there was a man who got his throat slit in the middle of town on monday... WHAT!?!?!  Yep and apparently that is not a weird thing, we have talked to alot of people and asked them what they think about Hagen, and all of them always say that it is just a terrible town and that there is so much bad here.... I never knew it...
 
We were told all that on tuesday, and then the following day, wednedsay, we were going door to door talking to people.  In Germany, this isn't the most effective, the German mentality is that if you do not have an appointment, you have no buisness being there.  But we had finally got someone to open the door and talk to us... The first and last person all day, and guess what happens...  The police come up and stand right behind us.  Someone had called the cops on Elder Butcher and I and they wanted to see all of our papers and whatnot.  So we are trying to talk to this lady about how this gospel will bring happiness into her life, while in the mean time, police are searching our bags... Oh yeah, I am sure we made a good impression.  But my question is, in a town where people are being murdered in the fußgängerzone,  what are cops doing checking misisonaries trying to spread a gospel about joy and becoming like Chirst?!?!  Oh yeah that was fun.  And they weren't even nice cops, they were rude.  It was kinda funny though.
 
Not much happened this week. It was actually a very slow week, I am not sure why but we spend a lot of time going door to door, and not many people wanted to talk to us. 
 
But the big news coming up is that transfer call is on Saturday and I will not be a Golden anymore.  Which means everything is fair game, I can get moved, elder Butcher can get moved.  it is kinda scary.  I just want everything to stay the same, I love Elder Butcher and I love Hagen.  I am really scared for this saturday.
 
Oh and Thanksgiving is next thursday... transfer day... Lame way to spend Thanksgiving.  But if nither of us gets transfered then we have an invitation for dinner.  Unfortunantly it was the only vegitarian family in all of germany that invited us over.... Seriously, haha how can you have Thanksgiving and be vegitarian at the same time, there has to be some sort of rule against that. 
 
The other big news this week is that Chistmas is starting to come!!!!  We were in Lüdensheid this week and they are already starting to set up for Weinachtsmarkt!! Which, for all those who do not know, is basically the best thing ever ever ever!!!  They only barely started, but there are all these shops with delicious food and they have an ice renk and a huge tree!!  It smelled amazing!! I will defiantly send pictures soon, but it is basically the best thing ever!  And it is open ever day till christmas.  I think I am going to be in love with german Chistmas, I can already tell.  Oh and all the german christmas food!!! Oh I am so happy.  I have already told Elder Butcher that I am just going to get fat this christmas, because there is just too much to eat. I am super excited.
 
There was not much going on this week.  I think that next week there should be alot more to write about, sorry for the lame week.  Well I dont think it was lame, I love being a missionary and everything is super exciting for me, haha but for those of you who read this, sorry :)
 
Viele Liebe,
 
Elder Blackley

Week Eighteen


Alright.... So this week was crazy... I don't even know where to begin. It feels like forever since my last P-day because we have been so busy this week and so much has happened.  Make this email a little different and just outline my days because otherwise I am going to lose track of what happened.
 
Monday- After writing emails last monday, Elder Butcher and I took a relax p-day and played cards for the rest of our p-day, which was much needed to mentally prepare for the rest of the week.  Because that night we met an investigator that would just throw a huge curve ball in our week... Fikret.  So we met Fikret at his home, which is in sketch town of Hagen and he lived in a Muslim community where absolutely no one spoke german or english.  So everyone is staring at us wondering why the white folk are in this neck of the woods, and Fikret comes up and greets us.  Really just the nicest guy ever.  He is from Macedonia and he is a super strong Christian.  He speaks like 6 different languages and so we were able to speak both english and german with him.  But we met with him in his parents house, were we sat on this tiny couch that was super close to the ground and there was like 6-7 muslims standing in the room just staring at us who couldn't talk to us just staring... And they stayed like that.. The entire lesson.  But it turns out that Fikret was a youth pastor in Macedonia, he became chirstian as a teenager and because of that he was thrown out of his house and lived on the streets for a couple years before he was accepted into bible school and became a pastor.  He used to have a group of youth that he tought but they were all taken by radical muslim groups to become soldiers which is when he fled the country and came to Germany.  WOW... So we tought him a lesson and seriously he was like the perfect investiagtor and really just understood everything.  That was monday, way excited.
 
Tuesday-  We had zone conference in Düsseldorf.  Elder Schultzer was there, a member of the seventy, and we were late... 40 minutes late because the Siegen elders picked us up in the car and we got stuck in stand still trafic for an hour and a half... Yeah so kinda embarrasing.  But it was a really great conference and it is always a good time to be with President Schwartz and all the other missionaries.  I loved it.  But tuesday was not very busy because we were in Düsseldorf the entire day.
 
Wednesday-  We met with Fikret again.  And at this point we were like best friends apparently.  He calls us up and just yells "BROTHER"!!!  I really think we are his best friends right now, he has only been in germany for like 2 weeks.  But we meet him at the church to give a church tour and teach the restoration lesson at the same time.  He accepted everything very well.  I swear he was like the perfect investigator, and he wants to read the book of mormon and everything is going great and he just wants to know if Joseph Smith was a true prophet everything was awesome.  At this point we are just jumping for joy he is doing great, the only problem is that he is a refugee.  And so we are not quite sure what is going on with him and why he is a refugee and had to flee.  But still just super  excited.  Side not, his catch phrase is ''Thats just the life of a refugee''  He says that all the time its funny.  But then we had a super awesome Gemeinde Rad that night that was all focused on missionary work.  I really feel like missionary work here in Hagen is starting to blow up.  We have so many investigators and the ward is becoming so missionary focused right now.  I am super excited, things are starting to change here in Hagen.
 
Thrusday-  I was on a split in Siegen, kinda boring... It takes forever to get back and forth from Siegen that between that and morning scripture study we basically do nothing.  It is like a 2 hour train one way and then on our way back we got stopped for rail construction so it was even longer... fun fun...  But it was a good time getting to know Elder Mildon a little bit better.
 
Friday-  Well after returning from the split, we had a little time to do some street finding before we headed to Iserlohn to help with the move again... yes the same move that we carried the bed 5 km.  So I haven't really been saying this but we have met with same member like 5 times now to help so this has become a regular thing.  But this time I carried about 100000 CDs and DVDs all in backpacks that hung off the handle bars of a bike.  It was basically like the whole walmart electonic section all balanced on the handle bars of a bike... Ya again I looked like an idiot walking through iserlohn.  But we got to his new appartment, and apparently he has been doing the same thing over and over for the past couple weeks... Instead of boxing things up like we thought and having the elders quorm help drive the boxes... he has been making individual trips back and forth with all of his figurines and stuffed animals... Now the big problem is that he has no room in either appartments.... ya... So sometime this week we have to help him figure out how to fit two appartments worth of junk into one appartment.  I dont know that I do justice discibing all of this in an email.  I have so many pictues that do better...  This whole thing is insane....
 
Saturday-  We had the most delicious food.  There is a family in the ward here and they always have the missionaries over and they make the best food ever.  We have had a lot of visits with them and really it is my favorite, the best german food ever.  After that visit, we met with Fikret again and went ona walk and review the restoration lesson.  Again he understood everything and is just waiting on us geting him a serbian book of mormon because that is the best for him to read (other than macedonian which is not an option, it has not been translated yet).  So again super excited and just super nice to us and really just thinks we are his best friends.  We get like 2 or 3 calls from him every day just to check up on us and make sure we are doing good.  I mean I love this guy.  So just an awesome discusion and really fun, and said he was going to come to church the next day.
 
Sunday (Doomsday)-  So super great week so much stuff happened and we have had other appointments with other investigators and just really productive and full of miracles... But it took kind of a curve ball on sunday.  So Fikret came to church and everything was going great and he was really enjoying everything, and then I am talking to him before sacrament meeting and he tells me that he is facing 5-10 years in PRISON if he goes back to Macedonia.... WHAT!!!!! Oh yeah so at that point I am freaking out not knowing what we got involved in, and then after sacrament meeting he is talking to Rebecca (the member we ate with on saturday that we eat with alot and is super missionary focused) and he askes if she is married (oh forgot to mention that he told us the only way he can stay in germany is if he gets married)  So I am feeling super awkward standing there.... And she tells him that she is going through a divorce right now.... And then it gets super awkward... He asked her to go to a concert with him just the two of them... A DATE!!!!  WHAT!?!?! you dont do that to someone who is going threw a divorce!!!  Luckly Rebecca is way cool and understanding and just brushes it off, but at this point I am just freaking out and we leave church and he goes home...  Then we have an appointment with a guy we met last week, and the entire appiontment he keeps going back to the idea of the gift of tongues and if we believe in that.  And we ask him to say the closing prayer.... And now I know why.... Because apparently the gift of tongues is talking in a language that only the holy ghost can understand and is conplete gibrish.... And then to close the prayer he yelled haleluia and I might have laughed a little bit, I covered it up with a cough... But I really wasn't expecting that... WOW.... strange... then right after that we get a call from a guy in our ward saying that he is trying to get involved in keeping Fikret in Germany and is working on all these legal stuff.... right after president schwartz told us not to get involved in that but to just teach him and try to figure out why he is a refugee...  Oh yeah that was a huge mess... So just came out of the most awkward church experience, then wierdest lesson, then have a guy call us involving us in political crap.... it just never stopped... Luckly we had dinner with Bruder Krammer that night, pretty much the nicest man alive and he was able to help make the day a little better... But oh yeah... Sunday was a mess.
 
And now we get to deal with all this stuff this week, so it should be another week full of interesting experiences... Never a dull moment.  But at the same time I have seen so many miracles here in the mission and met some of the nicest and most humble people.  I am so excited to watch them progress in the gospel.  This work really is the work of the Lord.
 
Elder Blackley

Week Seventeen


This week I think I am going to be short,  I do not have too much to talk about, it was kinda a slow week.  It is the first week back to school after holiday and everyone seems to be getting sick... like everyone... So this week we did a ton of contacting and doors.  So it was just a very slow week as far as lessons go.  But we did have the opportunity to work with a lot of the ward this week which was very nice.

The ward here is so awesome, it is one of the bigger wards in the area, we have about 70 active members.  They are so amazing, I love listening to the testimonies and conversion stories from these memenbers, they are some of the nicest and strongest members.  I am extraordinarily fortunant to be in this ward.  And the missionary work in the ward has really started picking up in the last few weeks.  So we are really excited for the coming months, Chistmas is fast approaching and is a great time to do missionary work.

I said last week that I would take a little time to talk about the visit from President Monson.  So President Monson has been in Germany since last Saturday, when we saw him in Hamburg.  Since then he has been in Berlin and München, and then yesterday he was in Frankfurt, which was broadcasted to all of Germany.  So in the past 4 weeks we have heard the prophet talk on 3 of those weekends.  It has been such a spiritual couple of weeks.  The first time we saw him we were there live, in Hamburg.  We traveled to Hamburg with the ward in a big bus.  That was alot of fun, we just played games the whole time, because it is like a 5 hour drive one way.  So most the day was spent in the bus.  But we got there and there were so many members there.  It was so neat to see all these German members gathered together.  I haven't seen it that much, there is not a very big Mormon population here in Germany.  But there were a couple thousand there, and I heard that we had one of the smaller ones. It was a really good talk about choices and the way we can live what we believe and become more like Christ.  He talked about how to listen, love, labor, and learn.  It was really good.  And the bonus was the fact that It gave me the chance to practice my german.  Because he was being translated, he would say a sentance and then the translator would just repeat it in German.  So it was fantastic language practice. But that was the Hamburg trip.

Yesterday, in stead of a normal church meeting, we had the broadcast from Frankfurt.  He talked about obedience and then again about becoming more like our Savior.  That seemed to be a really big focus for him while in Germany,  becoming like Christ.  That is always a good topic to hear.  And something that I have really been putting a focus on in my personal study, so it was super nice to have the prophet talk about the same thing. Really other than that, not much happened this week. 

I love all of you guys and I hope that everything is going well.  I am having so much fun and learning so much.  There is so much to learn about this gospel, I feel like I am not even scratching the surface, but at the same time I have learned so much it is increadible.  I love this work so much, there is really no greater joy that this.

Elder Blackley

Week Sixteen


This week was another great week here in Germany full of great experiences and fun stories.  We manage to stay increadibly busy, I am not quite sure how, we have so much going on, but at the same time like not much.  I dont know how.  But as always, we had a great week.  It started out with meeting Brother Rajahkumar, a member in our ward from Sri Lanke.  That was so amazing, and what a cool family.  The got sealed in the temple this weekend after finding the missionaries 23 years ago.  It was cool to hear his story and everything that lead him to this increadible day.

Tuesday I witnessed a miracle. So I haven't quite said this before, because I never thought it was true, but I am thankful that I was raised by an OCD father. Someone that gave me this same cumpulsive desire for everything to be clean, and not sticky... I hate sticky.  But unfortunantly, not everyone has this same desire to scrub everything.  One of these less that cleanly people happen to be my companion.  In fact, he is quite the opposite.  I love him to death, but not clean. I conducted a little experiement the other week to see what his limits were.  We had recieved a big bucket of grilled meats from a member after an appointment last week, and so we had it as leftovers.  Last Tuesday, after coming home from Siegen, the tuperwear full of meat was sitting out on the counter.... So I decided to see how long it would take for him to put it away.  Well I lost... It took me till Friday, when there we an entire colony of flies living in our kitchen before I just cleaned it up myself.... SO ya.... Not exactly the neat freak that I was raised with. Which kinda makes things scary when I see how much I take after my dad... I was wiping out the corners of our cabenants the other day.... OCD... scary.  But the miracle was that on Tuesday we had an appartment check.  And we almost got our picture taken and put up on the outstanding appartment board.  If we didn't have a big pile of useless crap in our keller, which has been there over 6 months, we do not know where it came from, we would have had our picture taken.  How that happened I do not know.  But I am greatful for the miracle that wiped the sludge off our appartment.

Wednesday and Thursday were the big days this week.  They were a couple of days that I hope I never forget.  So we went to go help a member with some service, we were helping a member move, and the entire time we were getting ready to go Elder Butcher was just laughing and saying that I am going to be so suprised.  He wouldn't tell me what was going to happen, but I was just imagining the worst.  That the whole place was going to be sticky, or that there was just going to be nasty stuff everywhere or that it was going to be super unorganized.  I just didn't have a clue what to expect, besides that it was going to be bad.  Well I was defiantly suprised...  So we get there and I have never seen so much STUFF in such a tiny appartment.  I can see why he had to move, it was either buy a new appartment or swim through enough stuff to throw a neighborhood garage sale.  He was a hoarder, or pacrat, or whatever you want to call someone who collects anything and everything but has like a million of them.  There were enough stuffed animals to give one to every kid in Germany, the best unopened movie and cd collection of all time, and enough books to start his own library.  Not to mention about 100000000 kinder egg toys on the wall.  And we were helping him move....  And that is not even the best part... Oh there is more... much more.

So we go down into the keller to grab some boxes so we can start boxing some stuff up... I dont exactly know where the boxes are going to go, there was no room.  But we go down there and he grabs two boxes, about 1ft*1ft*1ft.... TWO boxes and says that we will start with that... It took every fiber of my being not to burt into laughter as I thought that we were going to pack up this man's house two boxes at a time.  So that was our Wednesday night.  We didn't get much done, and it didn't look like we got anything done looking at what was still left, but his big concern was the bed and the table.  He wanted that to be in his new appartment, and he had the key, so that he had more room to pack.... We sat there thinking a little bit about what we could do and how we could get his bed and table to his new appartment but nothing came to mind.  That brings us to Thursday.

I have done a lot of thinks for 5 kilometers,  Skated, Skied, Ran, Biked, Hiked, Drove, and probably Swam.... But I can now add another to this wonderful list... Caried a bed.  Yep thats right, thursday we carried his bed, with the mattress, bedding, a table, and two chairs, 5 kilometers to his new appartment.  Me and Elder Butcher, over two bridges, through a park, around a lake, to this new appartment.  That was by far the hardest thing I have done while on my mission.  And I thought wearing a white shirt and tie made people not want to talk to us, carrying a bed is even worse.  I am not lying when I say that there were litterally parents pulling thier children away from us as we walked down the street... But we made it.  After a couple hours of 100 meters at a time we made it, and that is something I wil never ever forget.

(there should be pictures coming with this, one of the appartment, one of the bed coming through the window, and another of the us with the bed all packed up)

Friday we got our new district members, Elder Liebold and Elder Penfold.  Because last week was transfers we lost Elder Fuchs and Elder Walker.  But I am really excited for this transfer,  I think that these new members to our district are really going to help, I am excited.  But the other big event of the week was watching President Monson in Hamburg.  It was a long day, driving in a bus to Hamburg, I think we spent around 8 hours in a bus total.  But completely worth it.  It is undescribable to be in the presence of a prophet.  The spirit there was just so strong.  A personal message to the people of Germany is exactly what the people here need.  I just know that there is a huge work to be done here,  and it is going to happen soon. I wish I could talk a little bit more about this, maybe next week, my time is running out in this internet cafe so I have to wrap it up soon.  But next week I will talk more about President Monson.

This was a very fun week, and it only keeps getting better and better.  We have the opportunity to hear from the prophet again on Sunday, and I am excited for all of our appointments this week.  I love and miss all of you guys back home, but I am absolutels loving being a missionary, and I wouldn't trade it for the world.  It is the best thing ever, and I know it is exactly what I need to be doing,  helping people come unto Christ.

Love,

Elder Blackley