September 15, 2014

We are children of God. Do very many people understand what that means? God, being a Father, King, Creator, all-powerful, all-loving, etc. loves each of us individually and personally. His love cannot be measured by us, but it can be felt in all of our hearts. A child of a king becomes heir to that which he has. That's why Heavenly Father does all he does: to bring to pass the immortality (we won't die) and eternal life (we can live with him) of man. He's made it possible. We just have to choose the correct ways and follow what he has given us. It's clear, simple, and understandable. Never promised to be easy, but definitely worth it. I am a child of this loving being and I want o become like him and live with him again someday.

That was a large theme in teaching this as well as last week. It was also the theme of many of the talks yesterday in Stake Conference, where Elder Hallstrom of the seventy spoke to us. It was a great meeting and was one of the many confirmations to me that the church is led by inspired leaders who teach the truth about God and his will. 

We also were visited by Elder Ballard of the quorum of the twelve apostles. This was a really cool experience because all of the missionaries in the mission (252 of us) were there to hear his words. My group of 30 missionaries got there just in the nick of time because our bus broke down half way through, creating a two-hour delay. We arrived five minutes before the meeting, just scraping by! I was personally very grateful for being there before the meeting started because I was playing the opening hymn Called to Serve. That would have been a disappointment had we not been there on time. I don't want to disappoint one of the apostles by not showing up! But we did, and the meeting was great! 

We heard from Elders Tischera, Hallstrom, and Ballard all together. Elder Bednar was also in Frankfurt somewhere else, I believe. He spoke at a Europe conference which was broadcast from Offenbach (that was my first city). The missionary meeting was very nice. Elder Ballard was describing a feeling people must feel from meeting with the missionaries but could not find the right word for it. I did, however, feel like I have been successful in helping people feel whatever this feeling is -- a mixture of love, compassion, the spirit, and learning, with some other elements thrown in. It was nice to feel like I am on the right track because sometimes it is easy to ask yourself whether people are really being touched or whether they appreciate what we do. I decided there are and they do after thinking about it. THat's nice to know. 

I finished reading the Book of Mormon again. Yes, it is true. I just started over again and am reading with a specific focus on the members of the Godhead and their attributes. I LOVE IT: I am learning so much about each one of them: Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost. These three distinct members of the Godhead are described in great detail in the writings of the Book of Mormon. And I am only in 1 Nephi 10! The Book is true true true!

It is true, why wouldn't someone want more truth?

True dat. Ü

Liebe Grüße, 

Elder Jack