Taking A Hike

So last Monday we were supposed to go hiking near Fischbachau but the guy that was going to take us fell out so we ended up just planning our own little hike and we randomly chose a mountain to hike. It just so happened to be Wendelstein which is the tallest mountain in our area. Yikes. It was a blast and we were so tired by the end. Through the whole week my legs were like jelly and I was having such a hard time walking. We are going to the the Fischbachau hike today and I hope it's not as intense as Wendelstein.

Tuesday we went to München for district meeting and that just about takes our entire day. In the evening we went to dinner with Sister Buchholz at this Chinese restaurant across the street from our church. We talked a lot about family history with her and she is helping Elder Rodgers with some of his work.

Wednesday was a lot of train travel. We went all the way out to visit with Sister Timm who is turning 97 next Sunday. She is so silly and nice. Sometimes she just says the funniest things and we just laugh up a storm when we're there. She has such a good understanding of the gospel and a strong testimony which is amazing because she can't come to church any more and she has a hard time getting up and doing stuff. As soon as we finished with her we had to go back to Rosenheim get on another train and go to Kiefersfelden to meet with Walter. By the time we got there it had started to pour rain and we didn't have umbrellas or jackets so we got soaked as we walked to his house. We had a good lesson with him and he is slowly improving. It's so cool to see him become happier and let the gospel bless his life.

Thursday we biked all the way out to Bad Endorf. It took us a little over an hour (because Elder Rodgers kept getting lost.) We went out there to help a less active named Bruder Schlesinger. He was a very nice man that was living in some not so good conditions. He was basically living in a container that you see on freight trains. So after some humbling of myself and helping him with some yard work we biked back home to study a little before we went to visit Dominik. He is doing better every time that we see him. He was able to go home for the clinic last weekend to be with him mom and have a birthday party. 

Friday we had weekly planning and then went out to München for a district finding day. That was sick. We contacted in Marien Platz for two hours and as a district found 20 potential investigators. (too bad they were all for München.) I was paired up with Elder Pingel for that and he slayed it with some Muslims. He gave them a book of Mormon and answered all they're questions and remarks. They were a lot nicer than I thought they would be. Afterwards we went to Pizza hut for all you can eat pizza night. It was alright but the pizza hut here is so expensive and I don't think I'd ever do that again.

Saturday we had a ward hike in Austria. We went to Kaiser Mountain but it was a little different than the normal hikes I've been on. We took a ski lift up half the mountain and hiked for about an hour and a half and ate lunch at a shack up at the top. It was way good Austrian food and it was fun to hear Austrian accents. I guess almost all the mountains here have lifts that you can ride all the way up to the top of the mountain. As soon as we got down with the hike we had another lesson with Walter. He's still slowly progressing and keeping commitments so that's good. After that we had a lesson with Svonimir. Connie had given him some marriage books from the church to read so that they could hopefully work this out. I really hope that they can get back together. We also found out that Connie's family does not support the church at all and they don't want her to get baptized so she has no support there. It's going to be hard but I hope we can still meet with her.

Sunday our Ward Mission Leader was made the second counselor in the bishopric and both Connie and Svonimir came to church so that was good. 

All in all this week has been pretty good. We've been making progress with our investigators and we've got some good plans for this upcoming week. I know that I have been called by a prophet to declare the gospel to the German people. I know that at times it may be tough but God wants me here and he knows exactly how to help me. I know that I can bless his children through my actions and help bring them happiness. Have a great week and keep the spirit with you. I hope you all can see many miracles in you life. See you next week.

Alles Gute,

Elder Johnson