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Jan. 20 (no call on Jan 13): Spread that Gospel!

Daily Doings

 We didn't get a chance to chat with Elder Heilmann last week, although he did take the opportunity to call Tristan, which was cool. This week, the light is back in his eyes, and the extreme fatigue has passed, thank goodness. As we chatted, the Elders were looking up tablature for Guitar songs. Elder Heilmann acquired a guitar and is glad to be playing music again.  


Today, they had the opportunity to meet up with the Duisburg Elders, and they all went bowling! Elder Heilmann says that Germany is stuck in '80s and '90s American culture, and they have skating rinks, "skater diners," and bowling alleys everywhere. I think it sounds AWESOME! 


Missionary Work

The Elders are working hard but are also meeting with contention and trouble. They met with a Muslim gentleman, and they were all excited about it. However, lately, their visits have been all about defending the Gospel, the Bible, and the Book of Mormon.  

True to his word, Elder Heilmann took the time to read the Quran, prayed about it, and found it "not sacred." He said, "It says, don't be friends with Jews, don't be friends with Christians. It teaches you how to bash and it ingrains you with the Spirit of contention." 

Elder Heilmann testified to the gentleman that he knew the Book of Mormon was true. The man replied, "How do you know that?" Elder Heilmann replied, "Because God told me." The man snapped back, "No! That didn't happen." The Elders have had to make the hard decision to no longer meet with him and try to teach. You can't teach someone unwilling to hear.  

This week, Elder Heilmann also did splits with Elder Nickam, who serves in Monchengladbach. The Elders went to Mike's house to help clean some more. They scrubbed the floor, doors, etc., of his kitchen and cleaned up a lot of mouse droppings. Mike's house is full of holes, and even though he has done his best to cover or shove things in the holes to prevent the vermin, they keep coming in. Mike is unable to reach the lower cupboards in his kitchen, so many of the mice have made homes there. Elder Heilmann ended up cornering a mouse in the bathroom and was able to thwack it with a towel and toss it out the window!  

Mike keeps delaying his surgical appointment. He has a diagnosis, and it's been determined that surgery is the next step. Elder Heilmann thinks that maybe Mike just doesn't want to go through the process of healing. Disabled people get financial support in Germany, so perhaps he is worried about having to work for his livelihood and being inadequate. Who knows. Mike is just super depressed, and it's sad to witness.

Another of their friends, Kwame, moved to Poland because he didn't have papers to stay in Germany. Poland doesn't have the same rules for immigration as Germany, so he went there.  

Some weeks, they don't have anyone to teach, so they end up doing a lot of service. One week, they were just moving people, and that was it. "It was fun," Elder Heilmann said. He loves the variety of service he is able to provide to the people of Germany. If he is not serving their spiritual needs, he is able to serve their physical needs. It keeps them busy.  

Being that they are the only missionaries in the entire area of Krefeld, a tiny town (but the mission area extends all the way to the Netherlands), they have many people to serve! I don't know the square mileage of the area they serve in, but there is only one small Ward with many 'do not contacts,' so the field is wide open and hopefully ripening. 

Quirky Germany

  • German's: "America! I want to go there." Elder Heilmann: "The more I live here, the more I think, America is cool! I want to go there, too!" He never realized how cool his Country was until he lived outside it. For sure, he loves Germany, just feeling grateful to be an American.
  • Top Golf is opening in Duisburg tomorrow, January 21. It's the only Top Golf in the entire Country, and Elder Heilmann is excited to witness its opening from afar. 

His closing words were, "Spread the Gospel! Spread it! Spread that Gospel!" so go forth and do y'all.

Share the good news of Christ our Lord. 


Also....that Elder Benshoff sends off a weekly every 6 months, so Elder Heilmann will send one every few weeks or so and not feel bad about it. ;)


There goes our American Missionary in Germany. :D









 

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