Essen🔥

Hey this week will be a little short but good news theo got baptized! So that was cool! We also got to go to the temple open house so that was pretty cool! It has really been a dope week! We had zone conference as well so I got to See a lot of my old friends so that was cool. 

The baptismal service for theo was really good and there was just so many cool things and miracles for it all. I dont think I've shared a lot about theo so I wanna share a little bit. Theo has known about the church ever since he was young and always met with the missionaries but had never seemed to make the connection, then he moved to an area with no missionaries for a long time and lost all contact. Time goes on and theo found a love for Judaism. He was always christian but found it so fascinating. He developed a passion and even learned hebrew. Time moves on and he moves to essen. He meets the missionaries and a few years ago he had a baptismal date but didn't feel right about it and he cancelled it all and lost contact. The bishop at the time became good friends with him and a few years later found him randomly at a religious event and invited him to church. We met him at church and started teaching him. Our first lesson he told us he wanted to be baptized and we set a rough date for November, next time we met we moved it up to October but he said something just didn't feel right. The next sunday I sit next to him and asked him if he prayed about when he got baptized and he said yeah and i said good, then how is september 28th. He said yes very confidently. We taught him everything and he got baptized. It was only then that he told us he had been looking for a sign to be baptized and he told us September 28th was the Jewish new year, it represented renewal and rebirth. His eyes welled up a bit as he told us he knew he was ready. After his confirmation we hugged him as he was crying and it was beautiful. We gave him the priesthood on Sunday and today he went through the temple to be baptized for his father and grandfather. That was cool. I know he made the right choice. There are only blessings that come. 

We went through the Frankfurt temple on friday with elder ebisches sister who isn't a member that was really cool. The temple is really beautiful and I know it's the house of the lord!

Zone conference they really focused on using our personal testimonies and I realized how much my personal conversion plays a role in how I talk with people. I love helping people see how they can build their own personal conversion. 

We had a dope district pday today it is a holiday today so nothing is opened so we just went to the herne church and played sports with our district it was so fun!! 

Anyways I hope yall have a great week sorry for those of you who emailed me this week I prolly wont write back cause I have no time hahaha. But I'll get you next week!!

LG 

Elder Miner

Endlich ein weekly

Hey yall! Sorry that this has taken like over a month😂 anyways some pretty exciting stuff! Um so a little recap,

- Elder Squires got transferred and I'm training for a second time! His name is Elder Ebisch is from saxony, a legit german! He is super cool we get along really well. He cooks really well and oh man we've been eating so good! 

- Theo is getting baptized on Saturday! There is like 2 days left we are stoked, hopefully everything goes well! Pray for him

- Elder Ebisch's sister is a non member and we got permission from president to go through the frankfurt temple open house with her so we are doing that tomorrow!

- Yaa our friend is sick so not much contact :/

- uh lots of new friends but we'll wait and see what becomes of them all!

Cool story time! I was on a split with Elder Emery from Herne and we were on that finding grind just street contacting talking to everyone we come across, and we meet this man and well he was super nice but super catholic and he brought up baby baptisms and how he has authority as a catholic to baptize other people cause he was baptized and we kinda were just reading scriptures out of the bible that were like uh that's not right, and then he just through down his hands and was like guys I'm hungry let's go get Indian food theres a place around the corner, so we get Indian food with him, have an awesome convo, he is the nicest man alive, and THEN he also paid for our food, and he's german? Literally never met such a nice german it was insane. And THEN same night, we are legit lost and in some compound and dont know how to get out, and we are 10 minutes from home and have like 5 minutes till we need to be home. Then this guy comes walking around the corner and we ask him how we are to get out and he said uh where do you want to, we answer and hes like oh I can just drive you home if you want. And it was sick! He drove us home and was so freaking nice it was insane. I totally was not expecting so many nice people in one day. We got home on time all was well. I'm stoked. 

We have a district goal to baptize 5 people in October and we are actually probably gonna do it, we feel like American missionaries😎😎 but it's been so good. 

Missions are so rad! I am loving my life!

God is there and he loves each and every one of you! Next week I'll send baptism pics and temple pics!

Liebe Grüße,

Elder Miner

Spicy Curry

This is from Christopher’s texts today- no email but some really good messages. 

Hello from Essen!!! Things are going really well here.  Elder Ebish is awesome.  He is from east Germany and was in Ryan Wiser's district at the Preston MTC.  He already knows everything so it doesn’t even feel like we are training.  He used to go out with all the missionaries all the time and he’s prepared a ton for his mission.  We get along really well and he knows a lot more than I do because he knows all these things about the German people.  I have a lot to learn.   He’s so sick!!!  Haha- I’m teaching him English.

So about the work, we've met with Theo twice this week, his baptism for the 28th is super solid, he's so ready, but that was also the only day we could possibly go to the  Temple open house so we aren't gonna fo to the open house cause its 4 hours with trains or 2 and a half with a car, but oh well, the baptism will be sweet.  But keep him in your prayers that he follows through with the baptism.  

Yaa is doing well, we taught the plan of salvation and she totally got it, it like clicked for her, and so hopefully she'll come to church!

 Sai  made us curry and it was really good but it was crazy spicy.  I told him it wasn’t too spicy so he made me eat it a spoonful at a time so I didn’t burn myself.  He really opened up to us yesterday and told us hes a wanderer, apparently he has been wandering around the world for many years, he doesnt like to be in one place, and he doesnt ever want to settle down, he thinks a wife and kids is just giving up what he wants to do, so that was kind of sad. We shared the tree of like with him and talked about how even though we are all wandering in the midst of darkness the iron rod is there, and he didn't really get it that well. I think he wants to stay wandering. He said he felt like a boat in the middle of storm with no land in sight and the water is overflowing. And so we shared the story out of the new testament and  master the tempest is raging we played the song for him. And the spirit was crazy strong. And we could tell he was kinda squirming fighting with the spirit. We asked him how he felt and he said I feel good I have "that good feeling" (what he calls the spirit) but we are still all wandering. And we think we might drop him but still invite him to activities. He’s moving to Portugal next month. 

Well that’s it for our week.  Hope you all have a good one.

Elder Miner. 

Elder Miner and Elder Ebisch

Spicy Curry

District

travel pillow and leek soup

Zollverein

Hello friends and family its elder miner here! I am going to try to write weeklies well... weekly! Emphasis on try, I need to get better haha. This week was transfers, and I am transferred to Essen! Haha it's funny because Essen in german translates to food, or the verb to eat, but an Esse is an old name for a smoke stack, and essen used to have TONS of coal mines and factories. What's real dope tho is neither of those things have anything to do with the name of essen. Its actually just a corruption of an older name for the region. But hence the title. Anyways I'm writing this first part on my way to essen so I will just talk about the first part of my week then focus on the second part of my week when the second part happens. Man let's see. It was crazy hot again this week, it hit 40 degrees again (or 103 for the Americans) and that's super hot without ac. But needless to say all the members feel bad for the poor missionaries and invite them for ice cream. We have had a crazy fun week, lots of member visits. So pretty much for my whole 6 months here the ward has been pretty lukewarm about missionary work and the missionaries in general. It was actually a struggle to even meet with them. We got invited over for dinner maybe 2 times a month, and yeah it was rough. But, I LOVE member work so we have just been grinding trying to build ward unity and to love the ward and recently things have changed. We have been getting invited over a ton, and we've had tons of dinner appointments, we just have been sharing lessons and actually a few of the members told us they'd love to help teach our friends! It has been so sick. Even tho I never got a baptism in mannheim, there are definitely a few coming and the ward is really ready now to take part in missionary work!

Sad story time: Andreas my homie, he went on vacation for 4 weeks (still is on vacation) and he hasn't really been answering us, so hes now off baptismal date and we really just kinda have to wait to see what's up when he gets home, kinda sucks :/ I really thought I'd get to see his baptism but oh well. I know the lord has a plan for him and that it's all in his timing.

Dope story time: there was this dude named elias who we have been teaching and we taught the plan of salvation, and somehow it just turned into a lesson about baptism and elias is pretty Muslim so we have really been hesitant to really push for baptism cause he usually pushes back, but this last lesson we basically just shared a point then bore testimony over it and did that for every point and we got to earth life then talked about baptism and he asked "what would my life look like if I got baptized?" And we went into repentance and stuff and he was like no what's my responsibility and stuff so we shared mosiah 18 with him and he was like, that sounds pretty good to me. Then he said "so before I get baptized i need to know Joseph smith was a prophet, why?" And we said well if joseph Smith wasnt a prophet we don't have authority to baptize and went into authority, and then he said "so to know if joseph smith was a prophet I guess I need to start reading the book of mormon huh?" And we were like YES EXACTLY BINGO and see when they build the connection when they connect that, it makes a lot bigger difference. Sadly he didn't come to church tho even tho he said he would :/ but elias is a cool dude!

Yo part 2 essen is super lit. The city is amazing, like for real they have subways and trams and buses and it's been pretty cool. I'm a huge fan of this place. My comp is elder squires and hes from north dakota, used to be an oil rigger, and loves nascar, whatever image you have in your head is probably pretty accurate. We are just balling out here in essen, almost bought some lederhosen but ima hold off for a bit. I really don't have lots of words to say but this place us fun. We went to a dinner termin with the sisters the other night and it was pretty lit they had such good food, who knew I'd actually eventually get to like sauerkraut.

Recently I've been been thinking a lot about jesus christ, and I just want to share my testimony that jesus christ is there and that he loves each and every one of you. I've been thinking a lot about the concept of redemption. My favourite psalm is psalm 25. I think you all should read it sometime. I really do love psalms because most of them are just David talking about being redeemed by christ. And I just want to testify no matter who we are we can be redeemed, as long as we come into christ and have faith, repent, make and keep covenants and endure to the end we can be redeemed. I'm sorry I don't have more time to write but I love you all, don't forget how much God loves you.

Bleibt keusch jungs, das leben ist gefährlich

Mit liebe,
Elder Miner

Legumes or Sea Turtles

Yo what is up yall, its elder miner back at it again with the weekly that seems to be a monthly right now, sorry yall I'll try to be better. I have some super bodacious stories that I'll have to share sometime, sadly today is not that time, I'll have to write them all down and share em all at once somehow, cool times tho. I am now almost done with my 4th transfer and I am finally ready to get out of mannheim, my first area haha. I cant wait to get to a new area and have a fresh start and attitude on the work. It Is como se dice, HOT here in mannheim. It is 40 grad (103 for you americans) and I am toasting insanely bad. Germans don't use air conditioning so for those of you my Arizona homies who are like smh that's not even bad, trust me I would easily take 120 with ac than 103 without it. Imagine trying to sleep in this kind of weather, furchtbar. Also just realized how much I love the metric system. How much even is a quart? What's a mile? And dang don't even ask me to tell you how many feet something is. Sorry for all my american friends who's hearts I'm breaking but the metric system really just makes sense. Also Celsius took some getting used to not gonna lie, I like Fahrenheit better, but I do think Celsius is nice cause 0 is freezing and 100 is boiling, puts 40 in a little better perspective. Germans are so funny though, the other day we were doing yard work in 39 degree heat and almost every german stopped us and said wow you're doing this in this kind of heat you're gonna get sick go inside, and like elder Hawkins and I aren't some sissies we can handle a little sun, it is just so funny how serious germans take the heat. Every german here when you talk about the weather they just go off about global warming. I've been on some splits with some elders who don't believe in global warming so a few times I've just asked the germans how the weather is this summer and sit back and enjoy my handiwork. We have some fun times on the mission haha. 


Fun fact I stress shop sometimes, and today was one of those sometimes. We went to Jack and Jones and there was a sick denim jacket on sale for 30 euro and a sweater on sale for 10 euro, and of course me being me I thought what better time to buy winter clothes I cant wear on my mission than in the middle of the summer on the hottest day at the beginning of my mission? Needless to say that one pday I can wear this Jean jacket I'm gonna look so sick. 

To be honest one of the hardest parts of my mission right now is hearing the stories of a lot of these refugees. They all are here for a reason, and most of them sad reasons. A friend of ours had his whole family killed for political problems so he had to flee the country and now the government is trying to send him back because hes from a "safe country" but he told us if he goes back it's a death sentence. Another friend told us about his journey from his home country to Italy, he said there were 3 parts that could have killed him, the terrorists as he tried fleeing the country, the Sahara desert that he had to cross, and the boat ride across the Mediterranean. At all of those points he told us he probably should have died, many many people do. It makes me so sad to think about what they had to leave behind. One of our friends was a highly respected police officer in his home country, now he lives in a refugee camp and sells drugs to make enough money to send it back home to support his family. Refugees aren't allowed to work here, which means that a few do some shady things to earn money, but for the most part the refugees here are the nicest and most honest people I've met, its just so sad to see the piercing weight of their past in their eyes. You can see the fear of an uncertain future weigh heavy on a lot of them, they don't know if and where they'll get transferred to, if they'll get sent back, or if they'll be forced to go to a different country. My heart breaks for all these refugees, I've met a lot of kurds and syrians and turks and it's really sad because I heard about all these problems back home and it never really affected me or anyone I knew so of course I cared but it wasnt super real, now I've met someone who's whole village was killed and raided by terrorists, one who walks home to his village to find everyone dead. Someone else who voted for the wrong person at the wrong time and was forever made an enemy of the state, being hunted by his government. War is a terrible thing, I truly hate it. Never before was I ever faced with the reality of it all so plainly and bluntly as it is now faced before me. I reflect on these stories again and again and my heart breaks for all my friends. Every one of them has a story worthy to be told, and while we definitely share our message with all of them, a lot of times we simply just sit and listen, hear their story, and listen to them. Afterwards we go into our message, but I now cherish and savour their stories, they have changed me. Change is an odd thing because now I've seen so much of it. I feel changed, I hope I am changed. I see a lot of parts of me that weren't there before, traits or characteristics I'm trying to develop, and I'm working hard to purge others I don't like. I'm far far far far away from perfect, probably farther than most, but I am changing, I'm growing, and hopefully I'm becoming day by day a bit better than yesterday. 
My time in mannheim is probably coming to an end. It is a bittersweet goodbye. I've spent 6 months in this city, a fourth of my mission, and I'm ready to leave and go on to my second area, but at the same time I will miss this city. It is sad that I didn't get a baptism here, but I feel confident in the fact that I have laboured with all my might, and I did everything I could in the work of the lord, we have a few people who hopefully will be baptized in the coming months, so that will be nice. The culture of the ward is beginning to slowly change, they now invite us a lot more often and they want to learn our friends, it's really awesome. It's sad that we've worked so hard to get tight with the ward and as soon as they're ready to help with the missionary work I have to leave haha, but that just means tons of dinner termins before I leave. 


The work here is picking up, we are getting more and more busy with usually a couple of lessons each day, a big change from going out and finding the whole day. Elder hawkins and I are loving the pace of the work right now, and mannheim is ready to pop I'm telling you man. Wait another transfer and this place will be baptizing like a machine. I love my mission. I don't think I can put into words how much this mission has meant to me. I have written a personal creed (shoutout to george Albert smith) and I'm really committed to becoming a better person. When I first got out here I did a very blunt and open personal inventory of who I was, and I made some goals to be better. Now I've redone that, after 6 months, and oh man god is good. It is so amazing to know no matter where we are at or who we are god can change and transform us to be better. There is always room to grow (I have TONS of room haha).

 I've been studying a lot about God, the nature of the atonement, and why the atonement was necessary. Why it was necessary that jesus christ had to suffer and die the way he did. I don't have the full answer and it will be an ewigkeit before I do, but someone explained something recently that really caught my ear. A member (saša pavelič, the best member of all time) was talking about how he loves talking to addicts because he truly understands how they feel, he used to be addicted to about everything you could get addicted to, and now hes clean. He can understand how they feel and he knows what they need better than most. For christ to be able to truly help us overcome our struggles he had to know them, he had to feel them. Christ was never an addict but he knows how it feels to be addicted, christ was never depressed but he knows how depression feels. Christ never lost a father but he knows how that feels. Through the magnificence and majesty of the atonement which I don't fully understand he felt everything, he felt all our pains and sorrows and tears, he felt our struggles and he felt our heartaches. But for the atonement to really have power it couldn't be just in all in one single moment where he took on ALL the pain at once it had to be personal. in the garden of gethsemane, he prayed to the father, and using his power as savior, he prayed for each and every one of us individually and felt our pain specifically and individually. There was a moment where his sole thoughts and feelings were over you. Perhaps he shed a drop of blood just for us. I don't know how it all works, but I know it was personal, eternal, and powerful. With his stripes we are healed. 

Sorry yall this email is super long, also thanks for all of you who sent me a birthday email I love yall! Feels good to finally be 19 lol. I'm expecting a lot out of the future. Keep me in your prayers and pray I can find the strength to write another weekly next week. This is my last email from mannheim, city of miracles. Stay tuned to see where elder miner goes next!

Der dopeste Bursche,
Elder Miner

Miracles in Mannheim

This is a voice recording transcribed by mom---Things are pretty good right now. I haven't emailed home in a while but transfers happened Elder Frost is now  a Zone leader in Nuremberg. I got a new companion Elder Hawkins from Idaho Falls. He is a new missionary. We are trying to work hard- just grinding away.

I wrote an email a couple of weeks ago about finding in the rain and it kind of really sucked.  We were finding for like 4 hours and we didn't really find anyone but we did have one really good conversation with a girl. She was like- I want to have a relationship with god but I just don’t know how to do that but we didn’t get her contact information.  Anyway fast forward I got my residency permit and I'm by the government building and this American walks up and says - Hey Americans! What’s up? I'm from Idaho and then he was like yo like we should chill sometime grab a drink i'll buy you like apple juice and i'm like alright.  So we go get our apple juice and we're just chilling with him and his girlfriend walks up. First things girlfriend says is I remember you. I don't know if you remember me and she's like it was pouring rain when you stopped me on a bridge and talked about God. I was like wow! I remember you. It was the same as his girl we  talked to on the bridge. The only person to talked to us the whole day in the pouring rain. We are now meeting with her and her boyfriend just insane! it's just really cool like if nothing else those three hours in the rain we're just for that one girl. That way she could have one more step on her path. So we're going to meet with them and hopefully something turns into that if nothing else this is a nice step on her path closer to God that's been really cool miracle that we saw.  

We are working really hard to get the members to trust us.  Anyway there is a baptism set for Sunday for an 8 yr old little girl (which is awesome because there aren’t a lot of kids in the ward).  Any way we asked her mom if could help with anything and she asked us if we could set up the chairs and table sometime this week. I said we could do it tonight!  We were going to be at the church between 6-7pm and would that work? So we set up all the chairs and tables super quick and she's like that's it you've earned a meal- come eat with us sometime this week.  We're working really hard on doing things so the ward will trust us.

We set some goals this transfer.  Elder Hawkins is new and so we are going to focus on his German.   Training has been really good and it's been a little hard. I was  really stressed since there's a lot of there's a lot of pressure. I guess that didn’t know what  I was doing or I was worried Elder Hawkins would think this was horrible and not like me. But his has been great!  It's still a lot of work but we are planning and things are working out.

One thing I've really focused on this week is Alma 22.  Aaron is teaching Lamoni’s father. And his father says I will give everything i have I'll give i'll even give him my kingdom for God and Aaron is basically like God doesn't want any of your things- he just wants your heart.  If you looked to him and you pray with real intent you can have this. Lamoni’s father says a prayer and its probably the first prayer he has ever said. Basically, God just wants me to give up my sins and give my heart to him.  He doesn’t need our cars or palaces- He just wants our hearts and for us to give up our sins. The more I repent the better person I am becoming. I can really see change. It is a step by step process but it works!

Well, I hope you all have a good week.  Much Love-

Elder Miner

Christopher.miner@missionary.org

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