This week we went on splits with köln, Bonn and Dortmund (Thursday night was the first time I stepped foot in my area. I was going through Duisburg withdrawals, for sure). They all went really well...I think my favorite one was with Bonn, though! I got to spend a whole 24 hours with THE Sister Williams. She's one of my favorite people in the world. We had a couple member appointments, which are always fun...but the best part of the split came right at the very end…
There's something wrong with the Deutscher Bahn electricity or something, so there's tons of train verspätungs and fall outs. We were standing on our gleis at hauptbahhoff waiting for our train (which was supposed to come 25 minutes later), and I had only made a couple attempts to invite people to learn about Jesus Christ. 25 minutes became 35 minutes...and aside from those few conversations I'd had, most of that time was spent talking with Sister Williams. At around the 30 minute mark, 35 minutes late became 45 minutes late on the screen and I made a comment around the lines of "why is this thing so late?!" And then, prompted by the spirit no doubt, I answered my own question—"it's probably because someone here wants to hear about the gospel". I looked around, said a little prayer that I'd know who to talk to, and walked towards a guy standing a few feet away from me. He was super sweet, but it seemed pretty clear to me that he wasn't all that interested...I kept trying anyway, though. I pulled out a Book of Mormon and asked if he'd read it. He remained uninterested, but the attention of the guy standing next to him was sparked. He interrupted and asked "is that a Book of Mormon?!" I said yes, and he was like "Joseph Smith wrote it, right??" I motioned for Sister Williams to come join the fun, then explained that he translated it through the power of God and asked what else he knew about Joseph Smith and our church in general. He gave us a brief summary and we filled in the gaps. I can't remember what all else was said after that, but at one point, we tried to give him the book and he was like "I already have one! I bought one on the internet because I was really interested in learning more"...sad day though, because he didn't have a phone. And he didn't want to give us his address (understandable)...so as of right now, nothing's going to come from that experience, but I'm confident that one day, something will!
Same thing goes for Mark! On the bus ride home (when, after 4 days I was FINALLY reunited with Sister Johnson), we turned to the guy sitting behind us and asked him if he had internet on his handy. He said yes, so we gave him a weilerlebt card and told him to watch the video! He said "I already have! We've talked before on the train! I'll take another card anyway, though". He then went on to say that he was just wondering the other day what exactly it was that we believe, so he looked us up on the Internet. We told him that we missionaries are a lot better sources for information than the Internet is, and invited him to meet with us and learn more. He said no, but we continued talking, anyway. He said he isn't sure whether there is s a god or not and we asked him what he believes happens after this life if there isn't a god to return home to. He said he didn't think there was anything, to which we responded "so what's the point of living then?!" And he was like "I don't know!! What is the point!? You tell me!" And I was like OH MY GOSH PLEASE JUST AGREE TO MEET WITH US...but he said no. again. Ha-ha, we asked him once more before getting of the bus, and he denied us thrice, but he walked away with a Book of Mormon in his hand and curiosity in his heart...so that's a pretty good start!! I'm positive Mark will eventually see that the restored church of Jesus Christ has all the answers he's looking for...I just hope it's sooner rather than later!
We had a pretty sweet experience on Sunday, too! We were sitting in the pew waiting for sacrament meeting to start—both feeling pretty drained from a super crazy week of splits & fallen out appointments (had lots of those. Don't pray for charity. 4/13 of the characteristics of charity mentioned in Moroni have to deal with patience...) when we noticed a little family sitting a couple rows behind us who we'd never seen before. We were watching the last session of general conference, so we got up and asked them if they knew what general conference was (AKA are y’all members because, if not, we would like to baptize you please)...and they said no (AKA no we're not members and why yes of course you can baptize us). I explained what it was, sat by them during the meeting, then turned to them afterwards and asked exactly who they were. Apparently, they live right down the street from the church building! They had come by two weeks ago, but there was a sign on the door saying the church was closed (we were all at the stake center in Düsseldorf)...so they tried again today!! I'm so glad they did—we were able to get their number and will hopefully be meeting with them sometime this coming week!
Hope all is going well with y’all!!(:
Talk to you next week
Love youuuu <3
- Sister Terry (I have less than 5 months left to refer to myself as nothing else but that name. Gonna enjoy it while it lasts!!)
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