Tuesday, October 18, 2016

Stuck in the Mud


 Village Tonning


Hey everyone!
It's been a while since I have written, so let me update.  Right now I'm in my last transfer in Heide.  It's a pretty small area with a population of about 20,000 but we have lots of little dorfs (villages) in our area that we go to because we have a car, so that makes things nice.  My companion is Elder Jensen and he is from West Point, Utah.  He is a funny guy and we are getting along good.

Lately, it has been a struggle finding people to teach.  We did have a lesson this week with Manfred.  Last week Manfred accepted a baptismal commitment for the 19th of November, but this week we found out that he won't be able to make that, as he is going on vacation for a week.  So that was kind of a let down.  He still wants to be baptized, but that won't be for a little bit.  Besides that we had some fallen out appointments and lots of knocking on doors.  We have met some nice people that respect us for what we do, but none of them have interest to meet with us. 

On Tuesday, this week we had planned to overnight in Neumunster because we had zone training meeting the next day.  Neumunster is pretty close to Kiel, and it would save us kilometers for the car because we are only allowed 2,000 each month. We also had an appointment that was pretty close to Neumunster right before that.  So we did some dooring, went by on some less actives, you know, normal missionary stuff.  Then the family called that the appointment was supposed to be with and canceled.  So we did some more dooring in another dorf.  Well, we decided to pull off the road to decide where to go next before we went to Neumunster.  It was raining really hard because that's the constant weather here in Northern Germany.  So I pull off the road into some dirt and didn't think much of it, until my companion is like, " I think we just pulled into mud, we better not be stuck."  Then I was like, " Oh nonsense we aren't stuck," so I put it back in drive and press the gas pedal, and as luck would have it, we didn't go anywhere, the wheels just kept spinning.  So we sat for a little bit deciding what to do, then we remembered the stick trick.  So we got out in our suit pants and dress shoes in the mud to gather some sticks or pieces of wood.  That didn't work so well because we could only find branches from off a tree, and keep in  mind it's raining really hard and we have been trying for about an hour already.  Cars are driving by us not noticing that we need help. We said a prayer and finally some girls stop by that are about as old as we are.  They said they had to go home quick but they would come back.  We kept trying to get ourselves out, but were doing more harm by spinning the wheel and getting us deeper in the mud.  The girls came back and brought their brothers and they pulled us out.

We then drove to Neumunster to stay the night covered in mud and dirt, but thankful for the people that helped us get out of the mud.  That experience was literally a perfect example of the atonement.  Without those people that helped us, we would not have been able to get out, and trust me we tried for about 2 hours on our own.  But ultimately we just got ourselves in more trouble.  Sometimes that's how we are in this life, and that is why we need the Savior and the Atonement, so that he can lift us out.  I know that Jesus helps us when we need him because I have felt his help lifting me. I know that only through his grace can we make it back to live with him.  In the Name of Christ Amen.
Elder Spangenberg






Monday, October 10, 2016

Pictures!

Companion photo in the woods
 Busum, it's a huge tourist area.
 Memorial for people who died in WWI, who were from Albersdorf.
 This means: these people gave everything for the well being of others.

This says: Traveler! If you linger here your hands will wrinkle silently...?
Selfie in Albersdorf, this town is so pretty!

Memorial for people who died in WWII from the Dorf.  Each gold block has a ton of names on it and this is just a tiny little Dorf.

 Cool windmill

German Crest
 Dog looking out of a window from the 2nd story.  I thought this thing was going to come down and eat us, his bark was terrifying.



Tuesday, October 4, 2016

Grandpa

Conference was great..We only saw the first 3 sessions and next week at church they will show the last session.  One of my favorite talks was Elder Nelsons, when he talked about having joy.  The joy of the world is different than the joy of the Gospel, but the joy of the Gospel is worth more in the next life.  I also liked Elder Hales talk.

 I said good bye to Elder Williams this week.  He ended up getting us a parking ticket right before he left, so I had to pay for that, but that's okay.  My new companion is great, we get along really well.  He's a hard worker too.

That's sad that Grandpa fell.  I hope I get to see him.  I can't wait to talk to him in German.  It's been really cool to come back to the land of my forefathers and I'm really proud to tell everyone my Grandpa was born in Germany.  They all look at me and say, "Ah Spangenberg, that's a German name".  I say, "It is, Grandpa was born here and moved to America when he was 2".  I love saying that, it makes me so proud that my ancestor came from here.

I've learned to love the north. I think I needed to come again to the north to change my attitude.  The LeVitres gave me a book before my mission and there is a quote in there that says, "Life is 10% of your circumstances, and 90% what you make of it."  Heide is really a great place.  The members are really good to us, we have a great relationship with them.  This last week we had 4 member appointments and this coming week we have 5.   I feel like there is a reason why I'm here in Heide.  We are working really hard.  One day we were dooring and it was raining all day and we had people say mean stuff to us.  One man chased us down and told us he was going to call the cops on us.  He said, "Why are you guys going around asking for money?"  We had to explain that we didn't ask for money and talk to him about what we do.  Its been tough, but I really like it and feel stronger because of it.

The time is coming to an end soon and I'm going to try to make the most of every minute.

Love,
Elder Spangenberg