Andrew left for Bad Bendheim on January 21st. He took a 4-hour train ride from Darmstadt all the way north to Dortmund where the Elders picked him up and drove an hour to their apartment in Rheine, Germany. The stake center in this area is actually in a city called Bad Bentheim which is close to the border of the Netherlands. In Andrew’s words: “I arrived in my new area on the 21st day of the 21st year of the 21st century.” The day after Andrew arrived, he got to spend his first p-day exploring the outer skirts of the castle in Bad Bentheim. The castle was closed but the bakeries and other things around it were open. A few days later, Andrew gave a 5-minute talk in church and all in German. The beginning of February brought a lot of snow to the area. Andrew and his companions were able to help several people get their cars out of the snow. He said it felt good to be able to serve others. Since the new shutdowns in Germany, it was rare to be able to help or converse with other Germans on the streets. The rules are pretty strict. They are essentially on Stay-at-Home orders. On February 10th, however, a big group of missionaries got the clear to head to Frankfurt to get their residency papers. In Andrew’s words: “Had a 5-hour road trip down to Frankfurt and a 4.5 hour one back to Rheine this week. Got my residency papers, so I'm currently registered and got my passport back.” This month Andrew also got to participate in his first German Stake Conference. There was lots of “What did he just say?” FROM THE MISSION PRESIDENT (JAN/FEB 2021):
Germany is currently in strict lockdown. Surgical grade masks and social distancing are strictly enforced. Curfews from 8pm through 5am have been in effect. Hotels and all attractions are closed. Everything is closed except grocery stores. Restaurants are closed except for takeout. Everyone is expected to stay at home unless your work requires you to work in person. In some areas, travel is restricted to 15 km from your home. Missionaries cannot teach friends of the church or members in their homes, because only 1 individual may visit any given household at a time. As of last Sunday, only 10 individuals could attend church in person. Due to these incredibly stringent restrictions, every mission in Europe was at a decade’s low compliment of missionaries. The Frankfurt mission normally has around 170 missionaries but at the end of 2020, we were in the eighties, around half of normal. Many cities, wards and branches had lost their missionaries. While many missions in Europe continue to shrink, Germany has been greatly blessed due to the fasting and prayers of the faithful, combined with amazing work from our Area personnel and several miracles from our Father in Heaven. We have received 93 new missionaries over a few months. There are 155 missionaries with 55 Sisters (35%). Only 15 (27%) of our sisters have much experience as a missionary in Germany and we have a similar lack of experience with the Elders. The majority of our missionaries are struggling with German. Some of our sisters served initially in missions in the US and arrived in Germany having only 9 or 10 months left on their missions. Four missionaries began training after only 6 weeks in Germany. Our new missionaries came from the US through England because Germany’s borders are still closed to travel from the US. We had 24 missionaries who flew to England in December and then a new and more virulent strain of COVID was detected there. Germany closed it borders to travel from England. Miraculously, we were able to get 14 of the 24 into Germany in early January. This included 2 missionaries who, due to horrible traffic, arrived at the airport just minutes before their flight was scheduled to depart. The flight was delayed, and they were barely able to catch it. Ten Missionaries were not allowed to board their flights in England on different days and were reassigned to 3 missions in England. In yet another miracle, those missionaries are now in Croatia and will be flying to Germany next week. All of Europe has now restricted travel from England, so we clearly see the hand of the Lord in getting these missionaries to Croatia. Covid has had a major impact on missionary work in Germany. Those we were finding and teaching dropped to a multi-year low. This combined with all the restrictions were especially discouraging. After Sister Hammon and I arrived in the fall, for 3 weeks straight only 20 new friends of the church were found each week in the entire mission, averaging just 0.4 new friends per companionship. This week, that number nearly tripled to 64 new friends, (1.1/companionship). Our missionaries are so diligent in so many ways, basically reinventing how missionary work is done. This week, our missionaries posted and boosted an add on Facebook for one week in 3 languages, (German, English, and Persian). We received 48 self-referrals with 38 requesting copies of the Book of Mormon and 10 wanting more information about the church. Social media is a new and exciting way of sharing the gospel, but we can’t forget about what missionaries have been doing since the church was restored. We have been commanded as missionaries to open our mouths at all times, and in all places (D&C 24:12). This is not always easy, especially when you struggle with German and can’t understand what they are saying as is the case with many of our missionaries. Although it says, “fear not” multiple times in the scriptures (D&C 6:36), we all experience it. Three weeks ago, our missionaries spoke to 954 individuals in 1 week. Last week, they spoke with 2,876 children of our Father in Heaven about His gospel. Of all the words that I used earlier to describe missionary work at this time in Germany, we feel miraculous is most accurate. We read in 2 Nephi 27:23, “For behold, I am God, and I am a God of miracles; and I will show unto the world that I am the same yesterday, today, and forever; and I work not among the children of men save it be according to their faith.” We love our missionaries and the faith you exhibit is inspiring. Miracles are happening every day in this mission in finding, loving, teaching, strengthening, and speaking German because God is a God of miracles. President & Sister Hammon |