Easter!

This guy loves Sherlock Holmes and calls himself Sherlock.  He loves the missionaries and everyone in the city knows him, he is pretty funny!

Happy Easter Everyone!
First off, Happy Birthday to my brother Lincoln, who turns 12 this week!  We had a good week, full of member appointments.  Kristijan is doing great!  We gave him a big photo of the temple that he can put on his wall and he was really happy.  We taught him about the fall of Adam and he understood it perfectly!  Most people have a hard time understanding it, but he understood it and believed what we said.  He just needs to come to church and then he can be baptized.

Well one thing that happened this week unusual, was going to a Jehovah Witness Sacrament meeting.  This only happens once a year.  Our Ward Mission Leader meets with them and they talk about what they believe; don't worry our ward mission leader has a strong testimony, so there is no worry there.  We went with him because it's only a once a year experience.  The people were really nice and we got along with them. I don't know what everyone knows about the Jehovah Witnesses so I'll explain a little bit.  So they believe that 144,000 people will be saved and live with God, so equivalent to us living in the celestial kingdom.  For the others who were not saved, they can still get eternal life but not with God Or Jehovah , yeah that's pretty sad.  And only the 144,000 can take the sacrament, keep in mind that it's 144,000 of all the people that have ever lived on the earth.  So they passed around the Sacrament after talking about it for an hour, but nobody partook of it.  I asked our Ward Mission Leader what would have happened if I had taken some of the Sacrament.  He said that it would not have been good!  SO yeah, everyone just passed the tray from the aisle. They said you can take of it, if Jehovah tells you that you are one of the 144,000 and if you take it, then they write your name down and keep track of all the people who have taken of it.  Another weird concept is that they believe that we die because we sin, not because that's just part of life.  My companion and I wanted to take a selfie there but I left my iPad so we didn't, but they gave us some of their booklets and bibles and they were really nice to us, so that's cool.

We just had our Easter breakfast today and we had 2 investigators there!  One of them is an ewigator, which means he has been an investigator for like 5 years.  Those are the people that are too stubborn to change or who knows the reason to be honest.  But we also had a new investigator show up that we found!  Her name is Mai and she is from China, she is really cool.  We found her talking to people on the street this week.  The ward was super happy and excited when she came, and she made some great friendships.  Actually her and our new ward mission leader's wife have a lot of things in common.  They both work at the same mall and are both foreigners, but married to a German and they both speak English!  We have a couple of appointments with her so hopefully everything goes good, she even took a Book of Mormon in Chinese!

Yes, my companion knows the missionary that was hurt in Brussels.  They went to Lone Peak High together, not good friends just know of each other.  Because of that event, we are not allowed to be in groups at the train station anymore.  So we can't wait at the train station for our train, we wait outside till like 10 minutes before our train comes, then we go in, but that's only in big cities.

 I'm so tired of the people here talking about Trump.  They say all he has is money and if he is the president then everyone will be against America and he could create World War 3.  Has he won the republican nominee?

I hope everyone had a Good Easter.  I know that Christ rose from the grave and because he did, we can too!  He lives and I know it.  Have a great week!
Elder Spangenberg

Our companionship slogan, Don't worry, be happy! 

Flensburg!

 I was on exchange this week in Flensburg and that city is beautiful!  It's right on the border to Denmark.  We met lots of people that are actually Danish.  We didn't have any appointments so we did finding the whole day and it was great!  We were there twice this week because we helped the elders and the city for the "Clean Flensburg Day".  All we did was walk around and pick up trash, but it was fun.  If only the city would do that for Neumunster!  #ghetto

Most of this week was actually train rides and now my companion and I are totally broke.  But we are doing great together!  We got a new Ward Mission Leader this week and we are pretty excited.  This week is mostly eating appointments but that's a great opportunity to receive referrals.

We are really working with one of our investigators, the only thing he needs to do is come to church, but he can't because he has work!  All of our other investigators are doing well, we can't get any to come to church but hopefully that will change.

If you haven't seen the Hallelujah Video, then I invite you to check it out.  We went by on a part member family this week and we showed that to them and the spirit was so strong and we could tell that the nonmember felt it.  Have a great Easter!

Elder Spangenberg

Selfie with the dog in the car.  Notice my companion looking in the window on the other side!

Me looking at the sunset in Flensburg

North Sea

 I am super tight on time this week, but we had a good week, even if most of our appointments fell out.  Our recent convert just went to the Copenhagen, Denmark Temple on Saturday.  It's about a 2 hour drive and then they took an hour ferry ride to get there.  She had an amazing experience there, so we are really happy for her.

On Pday our ward mission leader took us to the North Sea, thus all the pictures.  It was pretty, but cold.   We still meet with lots of people and our days are pretty packed.  It's great here, I love it!

We heard "Puff the Magic Dragon" yesterday in the car and it brought back some good memories of home. When I was little, I used to sit next to the stereo while it played and sing it.
 
Elder Spangenberg

Neumunster!!!

Well to be completely honest, I love it here!  I have never been to an area where we already have people to teach from the first day!  Normally I go to areas and have to door all day (and everyday), and build up the program.  We are teaching quite a few people and it's awesome!  The apartment here is really nice too, no mold, thank goodness!
 My companion and I get along great.  He is from Utah and went to Lone Peak High School. He likes sports, but also music like me, so it's good.  He's also a fantastic teacher, like one of the best I have seen on my mission, so I hope to improve my teaching skills from him. Our district leader is amazing, Elder Bretzing is such a nice guy and he actually sets the example and tries to help people.  Also, Elder Mayer is in my district and I really like him.  He is such an energy ball, and he's fun to be around. (Elder Mayer is from North Salt Lake and went to Woods Cross High School.)

   The ward is awesome as well!  Actually this week there was a priesthood meeting for everyone in the Neumunster stake so I had the opportunity to see some of the members from Pinneberg and Delingsdorf in this stake.  It's pretty funny, I know over half of the stake here now.

The little red box shows where Kiel is.  

We had two service projects this week.  For the first one, we went to Kiel and helped the Zone Leaders take things out of the Institute Center.  We got these really cool suit things to wear while doing it, because we got very dirty.  We looked like ghost busters, it was pretty funny.  See pictures below!


























We also chopped wood for the stake president and that was actually pretty fun.  My companion and I had a blast doing that!  We got two referrals this week!  One from a member and one from an investigator.

It's pretty cold here but it's because we are close to the sea.  Actually, today we are going to the North Sea with our Ward Mission Leader.  I'm really excited, it should be really pretty.

We had the craziest experience on my mission on Sunday.  We have a new convert here.  She is really great.  She is from Hungary and her German isn't that good but she is learning and somehow we are able to understand each other.  So we teach her during the Sunday School hour of church and we usually just answer questions for her and help her when she can't understand.  She had a question about angels and why they even exist and what they are and stuff like that.  So we directed her to D&C where it talks about them and the difference between them and the adversary.  So we read that with her and then she described an experience she had in which she woke up one night and saw a light and then she couldn't move and this light or something entered into her and then she fell asleep.  Well right after she described that experience her body began to shake uncontrollably.  I have never seen someone shake so much, every muscle in her body was twitching and she tried to stand up, but she couldn't. It was honestly very frightening. So we had a member give her a blessing right then, and right after he told her to be still and told the evil spirit to leave, she stopped shaking.  My companion and I have never experienced something like that, the power of the Priesthood is amazing.

Aside from that, it was mostly teaching people and visiting people.  My companion is actually one of the Young Men's Counselors so we go to Mutual every week.  And this past week, we baked brownies!  It's pretty fun to go to mutual again!  I feel like a super priest, haha.  There's just one priest and he's great.

  Another cool thing is, I saw a mountain this week!  The first one I have ever seen in Germany!!! I freaked out when I saw it.  It's pretty small though.

                         Pictures of the "mountain".  It's covered in trees and in the background.

The lesson this week in the Priests Quorum was about gnade or grace in English.  We discussed what that means and why we need it.  I just want to give my testimony that I know Christ lives and that he loves us and only through him can we achieve real happiness.  We may think we're strong, but really without him we are nothing.

Anyway, I'm really happy here, and I totally didn't want to come here, but God truly knew what I needed and he put me right where I should be!

 Thanks for always supporting me Mom and Dad.   Have a wonderful week!
Elder Spangenberg

Transferred!

 District Photo

Transfers were this week and I am being transferred in the same zone but a different district.  It is Neumunster and is actually a larger city with a population of about 77,000 which is relatively small but big, compared to my last two areas.  It is only 40 minutes away.  That means it is my 3rd area in this zone and stake!  I have visited every area in this zone except one, so maybe that will be my last area!  And my new companion, Elder Anderson, is going home in 2 transfers which means I will probably kill him in mission talk!  My companion here, Elder Partridge, is staying and getting Elder Schmalz and they are learning Arabic together.

To be honest I was pretty mad when I found out I was being transferred and still staying in this zone.  I really wanted to leave this zone and this area because it hasn't been the most enjoyable experience for me.  My dream would have been to go to the opposite side of the mission as far away from here as possible.

On Saturday, right after transfer calls we went to a baptism for an investigator in Altona and that was really cool.  His name is Farshid and this guy is amazing.  He left his home, family, job, and everything else to become a Christian, even if it meant staying in refugee camps.  I was so excited that I finally got to meet him!  The Altona sisters and my companion have been talking about him for forever and it was a really cool experience.  After I left the baptism, I felt spiritually uplifted and felt comforted that God really does lead us and guide us.

Any missionary knows that the prayers after transfer calls are full of questions and pouring out your soul to God about your new area, companion, and the people there.  But I had a really cool experience that I wanted to share.  As I was praying, I asked the Lord why I am being transferred and staying in my least favorite zone and not being able to go to different cities like I always wanted to, or at least get out of the north.  I waited for a little bit, and then it hit me. I heard the words from my favorite Mormon Message, "I'm the gardener here, and I know what I want from you".  And then I felt comforted and felt peace.  I turned from frustrated to thankful that the Lord doesn't always give me what I want, but what I need, to grow to become the instrument he wants me to be.  Now I am actually feeling good about it and I think there is definitely something for me here in the north.

Sunday was really hard.  While this area has been hard, this ward had been one of the best wards that I have been to.  I almost cried in church for the 2nd time on my mission, but thankfully I didn't because the Stake President was there and he is in the Neumunster Ward so that would have been embarrassing.  But it also hit me that the Lord loves me and he is keeping me in this zone so that I can see all of these wonderful members again at stake conference and other meetings.

Aside from that we did a lot with the members this week.  We talked to some new converts about the temple and that was really good.  I hope everyone has a great week!

Elder Spangenberg

These are a couple of really cool youth members in  Pinneberg