Hey ya´ll back home. Wow did i have a KERAZZY week this week. UNBELIEVABLE. Where to begin hmmmm....
Well Monday was a well deserved, needed, relaxing P-day. Kind of a calm before the storm kinda feeling to it, which it turned out to be. We ended our P-day at 6 as always, went outside and talked to everyone and ended up finally making out our appointment at around 930.
Tuesday we had to roll out of Prenzlau in the car with the senior couple in their car to head down to Berlin for a mission conference with Elder Caussé of the Seventy. It was one of the most revelatory and edifying meetings i have ever been to in my entire life. He pulled the, what i´ve coined, Russel M Nelson technique when he taught, this technique can be broken down into a few basic steps. This is it... 1-You live a completely consecrated life for decades in a row so that your basically best friends with the spirit, 2-You get called as a General Authority, 3- You just show up at meetings with no previously planned topic of discussion and proceed to edify everybody in the room. Haha, he basically said, "i don't know this mission, i don't know your needs, this needs to be a revelatory meeting" and what followed was him teaching us for about 5 straight hours everything we need to know to baptise the entire land of Germany haha. It was really awesome. I really couldn't write anything he said and do it justice, but basically he taught us how to focus on baptise, be successfull missionaries, and to work with members. It was great. And the cherry on top was that when we got there, MY MTC TEACHER was waiting for us on the front steps to greet us! He´s doing a study abroad and is living in Berlin, soooo cool to see him.... but it gets better later. Anywho, i ended up having to drive home from Berlin because, well, senior missionaries are just that, senior, and Berlin is a crazy place to drive, so we all decided we´d feel a bit better with me at the wheel. So i navigated my way through the heart of Berlin back to Prenzlau, that is a big city though, crazy. It´s like your given a car, and told not to damage it, then thrown into the middle of crazy traffic in the heart of Berlin, and oh by the way... the car is the Lord´s. Crazy.
Wednesday we still held district meeting and then i hopped in the car with my favorite Italian ZL and we went crazy in the city of Neu Brandenburg for a day. I had lots of fun and learned lots there. It was refreshing to be back in a somewhat big city as well, even though Neu Brandenburg is by far the most Ghetto and least desirable ZL city in the mission haha. We saw lots of success though and had a good time together.
Thursday after our train broke down and we got stuck in Paselwalk for a hour and a half, we finally limped into Prenzlau at 1 o´clock. We had an hour until the ZL´s train came so we did some finding all together for a bit and made out some solid new appointments. Then came the best part though. So we had a new lesson with this guy we found when we decided to sacrifice some rest time and go out and talk to people for 20 minutes, and ya, the Spirit was way strong and we taught a good third lesson, and long story short, we have a way awesome new BAPTISMAL DATE for the 13th of August!!! It was way awesome though, he would be a huge asset to the branch here.
Friday we met up with the Eberswalde Elders in Schwedt and had a Döner together and then i headed back to Eberswalde for a day. It was another really good exchange and we saw lots of success. Culminating with a way solid appoinment where i got to extend a baptismal date again, same scenario almost exactly as the day before, and he also accepted! The Elders there both have big struggles with German, so i´m hoping they can pull it through and find a way to communicate, but it was another cool commitment. I believe that´s the 6th baptisimal commitment i´ve extended which has been accepted, so it´s just always a special occasion when that happens.
Saturday we had a big street display in Eberswalde to help boost the program a bit. It was my first street display, and it was met with a luke-warm welcome by the city. I actually think that hardly anybody stopped to look at the table, but our whole district was running around finding people, so we made out lots of appointments for the Elders there. I really hope that it boosts that program a bit more. Overall though it was a WAY solid week for the district. The ZL´s picked up 2 new baptismal dates as well, so basically we got 4 in the district this week which is unheard of. Way happy and proud of our District!
So, as good as Saturday was, we got home really late and then i talked with our other branch counselor and found out the assignments for this Sunday where either A-gone or B-not given out. Sewww, basically that left me with another 25 minute talk and the hour Sunday school lesson with my companion. So Saturday night was kinda stressful, but if i´ve learned anything here it´s been that i can do hard things. The scripture in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 kept ringing in my ear "when i am weak, then i am strong" And overall, it wasn't my most polished or best talk, but it worked and it turned into a good Sunday. BUTTTTT, that wasn't even close the best part. MY MTC TEACHER TOTALLY TOOK OFF FROM BERLIN AND CAME UP TO PRENZLAU SUNDAY. Basically i got to spend a Sunday doing missionary work with my idol from the MTC.:) I even got to invite him to share his testimony and he was totally there for all of our church meetings. We also did some finding with him and taught a lesson with him. INSANE! I would have never ever ever ever ever thought i would ever be doing missionary work with him here in Germany. INSANE. It was sooo good to see him though. I love my MTC teachers sooooo much! I missed them both, and i still hope Sister C is doing amazing. They influenced my mission more than they could ever know!
Man, well my fingers hurt, that was a lot of stuff haha. It was a crazy week though in the service of the Lord. I learned lots, i grew lots, and i´m better for it! The Work goes forwards, i just hope i can keep up! Have a wonderful week, love you all so much!
-Elder Ott
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