Lovin' The New Area

Here is the latest letter from Germany. Sounds like my boy is doing well. I asked lots of questions in this letter since he didn't give us much information last week except for the work. I asked about his companion, the base, and a few other things.

Hallo Familie!

Well, I have had a pretty good week, and we just had zone conference yesterday which gave us a great boost in the work. It was probably the best zone conference I have had so far! President really challenged us to give it our all and to help progress the work here in our mission. He stood up before us and said that he has had the most incredible few weeks in the last cycle, and had "wrestled with the spirit as to what he should tell the missionaries of the mission." He told us that he felt very strongly that we need to excercise more faith as a mission and challenged us to have 200 baptisms this year. That may not seem like very many, but it is double any amount that this mission has ever seen. With that said, he also challenged us to have at least 20 lessons a week per companionship. Well, that has always been a problem, and it is hard to teach most times. I think he said that we have normally about 6 lessons per companionship normally. But in the last few weeks, everything has more than doubled! Something is happening that we cant even explain! The hand of the Lord has been moving in mysterious ways on our behalf, and I have witnessed it, especially in the weeks following our Stake Conference with President Uchtdorf. People have a sense of urgency now, and have a desire to help in any aspect of the work that they possibly can. I look back when I first got here, and the mission has really changed in many drastic ways.

The work here in our ward has also picked up a bit. Last week we had a member of the High Council speak. His son was just recently called on a mission, and spoke about missionary work before him. He followed after his son and also spoke on missionary work. I remember one thing more than anything else that he said. He related how he feared sharing the gospel with his friends, or colleuges and how he felt that he would mess up and ruin the opportunity forever to speak or say more about the gospel to them if he opened his mouth. He said then testified that this fear does not come from God, and that we really have no reason to fear sharing the gospel with others if we just remember that we have been promised with the gift of the Holy Ghost. This gift and promise is to us and is our constant companion when we follow the commandments of God. He testified that he knew now that there are many opportunities that arise in which we can share the gospel, but we need to pray so that we can recognize them when they come and open our mouths and share the gospel with others. It was perfect because that is what we are sharing with active families. We have prepared questions that we have been frequently asked before or during the mission, or from others. It is actually pretty fun and it is good for kids and adults. Often the kids have the best answers though, because they don´t make things to complicated to understand.

On the other side of things, we are still teaching Fred, and he is progressing very well. He keeps telling us that he has mainly been praying about what we have said, and also read, and has felt something that he hasn´t felt before. He mentioned that he felt at peace, and that he is on a journey right now, but a journey that he doesn´t know the outcome to. He is so prepared and so ready. He loves what we have taught, and thinks things through. He has many questions. He even came to church last week with the Numbers, and enjoyed it. So, we will let you know what happens to him as soon as it happens.

We are also meeting with several inactive members right now, and the Bishop has given us a list of those whom we can go by on and give the lessons to over the next several weeks, which will also keep us busy. Really, there is so much potential in the area right now that we really can´t fathom it! There are so many possibilities! Even though I am not really speaking German much, the gospel is the same everywhere I go, the message doesn´t change and everyone is a child of our heavenly father. I am grateful for the opportunity to work with those from my own country, and to see their struggles as well. I guess you could say that I am well rounded now in that aspect.

So to answer your questions:

Q. You got all the questions earlier about your companion, so go ahead and put the answers here!
A. Well He comes from New Mexico, from Los Alamos, in the area of Santa Fe. He has been a member all his life, and has 3 sisters and 1 brother. He has been out for a little over a year now.

Q. How does it work being on an American military base? I always wondered that. Do you work only with people on the base? Do you tract outside of that area? Was Elder Christensen already there and you were transferred to be his companion?
A. We are not on the base itself. That is against the law as we aren´t allowed to prosylite on base. Only 10 percent of all those stationed here live on base. All of the others are spread out in the surrounding towns, so we can go door to door there. I think someone said that there are about 30,000 Americans stationed here at Ramstein Military Base, so finding them isn´t hard. For example, the license plates for Americans are altered from the original German one, so you can identify an American family easily just by that! As far as members go, there are a few that live on base, so we just take our passports with us and get signed on with the member we are with and go to their house and teach them.

Q. Do you have access to more American products there than elsewhere in Germany?
A. All of the American products are sold on base, and you can´t get them anywhere else in Germany except from Americans. There are British/American shops in some cities in Germany, but they have extremly high prices for them.

Q. You mention being in a car area. Does that mean you have a car? If so, is this your first car driving in Germany?
A. Yes, we have a car, it is a red Opel. Terrible 1.2 liter engine, I feel that the thing will explode if you try pushing on the gas too hard! Anyway, it isn´t my first car area. Hanau had a car, but we shared it with the district, and we used it only when we needed it, which was usually never. So this is my first actual car area full time. And, German drivers are insane, but very safe. I go putting along at 120 km/h on the Autobahn in unrestricted speed areas and an Audi goes whizzing by at 220 km/h. Crazy! You NEVER EVER driver in the far left lane, unless you have enough time to pass someone and get back into your lane quickly to let someone pass who has a much faster car than you do!

Q. I need you to tell us your physical address so I can look it up on Google earth! We found the city and the base, but want to zone in on your apartment! haha
A. Here you go:

Elder Jaren Smith

Hilgardring 46

67657, Kaiserslautern

Germany

Q. Was Sakina scheduled for baptism? I hope everything goes well with her.
A. She is scheduled for the 10th of April and that is all I know right now. I´ll let you know what happens when it happens!

Q. Is Fred American? I guess that goes back to the second question I asked.
A. Yes.

(sheesh, I guess I should have asked where he was from and how long he has been there. . . I know for next time!)

Q. What do you do for p-days there?
A. We play soccer, frisbee, visit castles, or play card games. It is nice to be in an area where we can do something!

Anyway, I hope you all have a great week! I am excited for next week, its Conference Weekend, again! It is my last one, and that feels weird to me. I am so glad to be here, and just love the work. Be safe, and have fun, and tell everyone hi for me!

Ihre Sohn und Bruder,

Elder Smith