Week 105 - Life в Ноймунстере week 15: Dawn of the final day, 24 hours remain

Well fam, this is it. Technically, there are less than 24 hours now. It's pretty surreal. As crazy as a mission can be, even it can turn into a way of life. It's honestly a little bit terrifying to be leaving it.

The Hymn 'Lead, Kindly Light' has been on my mind a lot during the last two transfers.

Lead, kindly Light, amid th’encircling gloom;
Lead thou me on!
The night is dark, and I am far from home;
Lead thou me on!
Keep thou my feet; I do not ask to see
The distant scene—one step enough for me.
I was not ever thus, nor pray’d that thou
Shouldst lead me on.
I loved to choose and see my path; but now,
Lead thou me on!
I loved the garish day, and, spite of fears,
Pride ruled my will. Remember not past years.
So long thy pow’r hath blest me, sure it still
Will lead me on
O’er moor and fen, o’er crag and torrent, till
The night is gone.
And with the morn those angel faces smile,
Which I have loved long since, and lost awhile!

As beautiful as my mission has been, it was also, in its own ways, terrifying. I could have in no way done it alone. God was definitely with me along every step of the way, and his angels -my Brüder and Schwestern in Germany, my leaders, and most definitely my Companions- as well.

I look forward to his hand continuing to lead me. One step is enough for me.

I'm very grateful to have had this experience, and can only close with my humble testimony:

God is our loving heavenly father, his son, in infinite love, died for our sins, and through the book of Mormon, we may come closer to them than through any other book.

The book is blue, the church is true.

I love each and every one of you. Thank you for the support and love.

For the last time,
Liebe Grüße,
Elder Austin Spaulding

Week 104 - Life в Ноймунстере week 14: The Beginning of the End

Hey everybody, how are you doing?

Neumünster has been an area of miracles lately, and I'm feeling super blessed to be ending my mission here. I'd like to share a small list of miracles that we have had here in the last few weeks:

- In this transfer we have received six referrals

- One of them is an entire family

- One referred themselves after overhearing a lesson taught in public

- We have several people who may be baptized in the following transfer

- Elder Wood and I literally love each other

- We have consistently had several people at church. Probably averaging 4 per week

- We have had at least one appointment every day this transfer

- Several people who had no interest have began investigating

In the words of Elder Ellsworth, "It's been pretty turnt."

We've been keeping up the hard work, and the miracles just keep coming. It's interesting to notice that miracles almost always happen in the opposite direction of our work. It's God's way of telling us that he appreciates our work, but that he is the one in charge. He truly does know what will make us happiest.

I thought that you would all want to know, we got a new plant for our apartment. his name is Doug.

Other than that, this has been a week with a lot of Goodbyes. The following week is conference, which also coincides with a vacation here, so we won't be seeing very members in this next week.

Anywho, I love you all, and wish you a good one!

--

Liebe Grüße,

Elder Austin Spaulding