Lübeck

Dear Everybody,

   I was recently transferred to Lübeck up in the northern reaches of Germany where it borders the sea. It was a wonderful three hour train ride into Hamburg and then another hour before I finally arrived at the scenic city of Lübeck which like Potsdam and Berlin, is older than old. Lübeck is famous for the Holstentor, the city's famous landmark and marzipan. (Unfortunately, I do not like marzipan.)

   Differences: I am now in former West Germany instead of the former East. The differences are not as noticeable as they were some years ago, but some differences persist. Not all of them have to do with the regional differences between East and West, so I will not attribute these differences to one fact or another. There are also differences due to the regional shift from far to  north and the shift out of the Berlin area. The first is that things are more expensive here. Döners are not nearly as good as they are in the Berlin area. Plus side: Less Berlinerish. I would say almost none, but some of the members come originally from Berlin, so it is still here. There is also a west/east, far north/mid north speaking difference. The most common greeting here is Moin. I personally think it is dumb, but some missionaries really like it. The word witzig is used instead of the word lustig. (They mean the same thing. It is like the difference between funny and humorous.) There is a lot of available seafood since we are on the coast. The temperature is overall warmer because of the humidity. The filler word wohl is used.

 Other differences: I am in a two man apartment instead of having four Elders. This means that it is a lot quieter. There is also no dryer. My new companion is Elder Bingham from Texas. I am serving in an actual ward instead of just a branch. There are close to seventy active members. Most terrible of all... Sisters. Lübeck has sisters. Dun dun dun.

   We had stake conference this weekend. Saturday was a normal stake adult session, but Sunday was a regional broadcast to all German speaking countries. Elder Bednar and Elder Hales both spoke. The best part was that Elder Bednar gave his talk in German. He served a mission in Germany forty-one years ago. His German was amazing for forty-one years of not speaking it regularly. Small moment of German pride.

   I have actually only been in Lübeck for most of the days this week. I was in Kiel on an exchange one of the other days. That was fun. Saw the ocean. Not that it is not just right there in our area.

   Love you all,

Elder Perez

Platform 9 and 3/4

Dear Everybody,

   I am being transferred from my beloved Leest to Lübeck. I am leaving on Tuesday. This is a bitter sweet experience. I am excited for the new opportunities that await. 

   I have been slacking on the everybody emails. I am aware of this. It might change. It might stay the same. No promises. I definitely have to write more people now that I am leaving than I did before. We will see how things go. My typing speed has greatly improved after I adjusted to the fact that the y and the z keys are switched. Hopefully I will be able to accomplish more writing in the same amount of time. 

   This week we went to go find some of the people that were listed in our area book as potential investigators. This is a word of advice to all of you who are thinking about or currently serving missions. KEEP GOOD RECORDS! There is nothing more annoying that the following situations: having a record of a person but having no contact information; having a record with contact information and no name; out of date records that do not describe in enough detail to be useful because the missionaries have met with the person but have not recorded their lessons; knocking on the door of a person who has had contact with the Elders but there is no record of that person in our area book. I can understand that these situations might happen due to extenuating circumstances but it is still annoying. For example. As we were underway, we came to a house that did not exist. That is right. (What is more is that this is not the first time that this has happened. It was the exact same situation except that this one has a happy ending.) The numbers on the street went 125, 126, 127, 129 130, up until 145 when we stopped looking further down the street. No 128. How the missionaries managed to write down the address of the one house on the street that did not exist, is beyond me. But being the persistent Elders that we sometimes are, we checked every house for the name. We found it at 129. (No I did not read the address wrong. It was written wrong.) The man there gave us his telephone number and told us to call and make out an appointment. He said that he would love to find out more about our church. Elder Schouten and the new missionary (brand new) are going to have fun. 

   When we really want to find the people that learn, we will find them, even if we have to find the Platform 9 and 3/4 of Germany to do it.

 Liebe Grüße!

Elder Perez

Goodbye Potsdam

This is the reason that Germans shut the
door when they hear the word church.

All is well in Germany

Dear Everybody, 

     All is going well in Germany. The weather is slightly warmer than it was a week ago. Personally I am hoping that it stays that way. 

     This week we went knocking on doors. A lady opened the door and said something that we do not here very often. She said, "I can not talk with you right now, but would you come back in on Friday?" We went back that Friday and had a wonderful lesson with her and her husband. 

     Those are mostly the stories that I have every week. We just have to keep going.

love,

Elder Perez

Raising the bar

Dear Everybody,

     I mentioned that the Lord is hastening His work in my last email. That He is raising His expectations. It is true. A few weeks ago, President Kosak, our mission president changed our standards of excellence from one to four baptisms per month. There were a lot of reactions to this decision, not all of them positive. On Wednesday we had the opportunity to be trained by President in zone conference. He showed us the results. Since he raised the standards, as a mission, we have taught more. We have found more people. We have worked harder. 

     The Lord wants us to have success. He can bless us when we do all that we can. I am thankful for the inspired leadership of our mission that has helped us to raise the bar, to lengthen our stride. 

    I am brought again and again to the fact that we do not appreciate the knowledge that we have. Or in other words, we do not appreciate the spiritual darkness that the rest of the world is in. 

   Both of these points were made very clear to me this week again. 

   Never let the opportunity pass by to share the truths that might bless the life of another. 

  sincerely, 

Elder Perez

Before the Gate of Babylon

The Berliner Dom

Berliner Dom interior

A little perspective

Luther on a Catholic church

Pergamon Altar

Someone has too much time on their hands.

Berliner Bears with Elder Bankhead