Hi :)
This week. Lot's of things. Teaching, finding, members, interesting experiences. Wish I could share them all. I'll give you a little overview :)
Monday we went out as a district and visited a Toy museum. The Elders were not so impressed ;) But hey, we can now say we visited a toy museum in Zürich :)
Then we decided we wanted to visit the big church, and so we did.
It was a really nice day cause we could just be social. I miss being social! It was nice to talk to other missionaries and make better relationships with them.
We got to listen to a beautiful Latin choir practice for that nights concert, which was so enjoyable! Then we had an awesome appointment with the family Radzik. This week was full of good appointments. For the first time on my mission, I can actually talk with these people and actually have a Gospel discussion with them. The husband is like.. mega smart and has studied the Bible and everything about it. I just wanted to pick his brain. But.. time ;) He put some really interesting thoughts in my head, which were only built upon more the next day.
Tuesday we went to the Bishop of another wards house to eat. Again. Another really uplifting conversation. I asked the question: what happens to all those who don't believe in Christ, but are still really, really good people and really live their faith? Often times much stronger than those who are Christian? I was so worried about this because we are surrounded my Muslims here. Every 2nd person we talk to is Muslim, and they are such wonderful people. But... they don't believe what we do, and we know we have to believe in Christ to be "saved". I was just so worried about it. What happens to them? We had a really good discussion about that + so much more.
Then later that night we visited a Mosque.
A Muslim Mosque. Wow. So, so interesting. We watched the men pray, and then we went upstairs to where the women pray. The three women giving us this tour are Swiss, and they grew up Christian, but converted to Islam. They are in charge of this Mosque. I found that so, so interesting!!! They were so good. We sat for a good 1.5 hours and just asked questions. They believe a lot of the same things as we do and they are so dedicated to their beliefs it is unbelievable. I really respect these people, even though we believe differently.
We ended up not having to cover our heads with a scarf, but we did have to wear pants and take our shoes off. It was a pretty liberal Mosque, that's for sure.
This lead Sister Robben and I to do some research on lds.org about Muhammad and the Muslim faith. We found this link: https://www.lds.org/ensign/2000/08/a-latter-day-saint-perspective-on-muhammad?lang=eng READ IT. It is so so good! I loved what he had to say! We are really ALL children of God, and we will be judged according to that which we have, NOT according to what we don't have. There is a place for us all at the Table of God. I love that thought, and now having a better understanding of that has helped me love the people here so much more. Because really... they are everywhere. It's crazy. But so cool.
Wednesday. Wow. We had a crazy lesson with a family from Eritrea. Wow. That's all I can say. We showed up and the wife was there with her friend, and she told us she had a little bit of time. Well... that little bit of time turned into 3 hours, 2 lessons, and 1 new investigator. We just went over what we had talked about the last time we were there, and that was the BOM-Book of Mormon. We teach in English, even though that's still really hard. She had some questions and really didn't like that we said that the "power of God" wasn't on the earth after the Apostles died because she has seen people be healed. So she asked, "you believe that there is power on the earth today, right?" We just answered yes and left it ;) Cause... there is power on the earth. And it's available to all those who ask for it in faith. God doesn't just heal those who are members of our Church. We taught her friend and she wanted a copy of the BOM, too! Just as we had prayed and were heading out, the husband came. He said he only wanted us to stay 5 minutes. Yeah right! He is really, really nice, and we know that they all love us, but they think that we are going to hell for having the BOM. They told us that we really should only focus on the Bible and on Jesus Christ. I don't think they fully understood that WE BELIEVE IN JESUS CHRIST AND THAT HE IS THE SON OF GOD AND THAT HE IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING TO US. That's why we have the BOM, ANOTHER TESTAMENT OF JESUS CHRIST and support to the bible. He appeared to the people in America because He needed to continue His Church, His people had just rejected Him and crucified Him. I find it a symbol of love that He gave us more records and that we have them today. We just tried explaining it all really lovingly. I think we did a good job. We asked them to read the introduction and then pray about it. The BOM isn't in their mother tongue, but the wife can read it and then translate it. I hope that they did it. We will be meeting with them on Wednesday, with Sister Couper (splits!). And then they fed us dinner and that was really nice of them :) I really like this family, even if they think we are of the devil ;) Just pray that we can all understand each other.
Thursday. Lots of contacting. Then had a good evening with the Ward Counsel contacting Less Actives. Ours wasn't home, but we got to talk with a Sister in the ward and I'm really starting to build a good relationship with her.
Friday. Cancelled appointment, second day in a row. We had a REALLY inspiring and uplifting conversation with a man on the street. Wow. We had just decided to scrap our plans and head home to plan. Then we talked to this man. We stood on the street for an hour and listened to him and it was so good. He's been through so much and has only seen death in his life. And even with that and having almost died a few times himself, he has such a strong faith in Christ. Wow. And he's even studied science and math and everything and I've just seen that people stop believing in God when they do that, but with him, it was the opposite. He was really great, and I learned so much from him. I know we're supposed to be the teachers, but I'm usually the one being taught.
Saturday. TEMPLE DAY!! It was really strange being back in Zollikofen. Only after 4 weeks. It felt like I was just on vacation for a little while. I did the whole session in German cause I thought it would just be better, then I wouldn't need to get headsets and then not use them, like I do every time. But... I was so tired I should have grabbed them ;) It was really good. Just what I needed. It felt really, really fast, and I saw only a few people that I knew. I saw Sister Peacock from a distance, but got no hug :( The American missionaries were also there cause it was the Stake temple day and they were all invited. So that was really neat :) Then we road home with members, which was so sweet of them to take us home. There's a family in Singen that I really like, and I've met them a few times since being here, and it's like we've been friends forever. The husband told me something that was really an answer to my prayers : "You reach your dreams". I really needed that. It was really perfect timing.
Sunday was a busy day. Church, meetings, meetings, meetings, 3 less actives at church, lunch with the Russos and the elders, then a meeting with the Elders about the ward, then FHA with JAE. Interesting day. Ate a lot, met a lot, talked a lot, celebrated a birthday (E. Laitinen), contacted a few potentials, then headed home. On the way home, there was only one person on the street that we could contact before going inside. We stopped her, and she told us that she didn't speak German, but spoke English. She is from Mexico. We told her about the BOM and asked if she wanted one. She was so happy! We were just around the corner from our apartment, so we told her we would go grab it. Then she came with us, we waited outside the door, and grabbed a book. She was so happy :) She's only visiting for 3 weeks, but she gave us all her contact info and said we could email her :) It was so cool! The miracle of the day :)
Well. There you have it. More detail than I feel like I've given in a while. Hope you like it. Remember, we are ALL children of God and all things will work out.
The Church is true. We are sent trials for a reason. Life wasn't meant to be easy, but we still wanted to come :) Hard times are there to help us stretch and become better. I am grateful for all the words of encouragement I got today. I will go out and make you proud, and be the best missionary I can be.
I love you all and am so so grateful for your love and support.
And hey, READ THAT TALK.
Sister Gilmour
xx
For Bree:
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