First Baptism!

So this last week has actually been pretty eventful. I have a long story, so I am just gunna say the same story to everyone, then I will answer some more specific stuff...

3 Weeks ago yesterday, a man named Pavlo walked into our sacrament meeting. We assumed he was a visiting member. The Branch President assumed the same. After the meeting however, the Branch President told us the he was not a member, and that he would like to meet with us. We, of course, were excited. We took his name, address, and number, planning to call him the next day to make out an appointment.

The next day, he didn't answer. We looked into his address, but it was a 45 minute bus drive away--too far to really make the trip. And actually, there seemed to be only 2 buses to the tiny dorf each day--really not possible.We called him again and again, trying to set up appointments, no answer.

The next week was stake conference in Hannover, so we did not have church. However, the following Sunday, 2 weeks after the first encounter, he was there again. We quickly resolved to meet with him, and set an appointment for an hour, which we would have right after church.

The first thing we did of course was get better aquainted. Pavlo comes from Ukraine, has known the church for about 7 years. He is also right now a medical student, getting ready to do his residency in a hospital about halfway between Hildesheim and Hannover. He would actually be entering the hospital in about 2 and a half weeks.

The next thing we learned, was that a friend from Ukraine had called him several weeks earlier, and told him that he should become a member of the church. So what did Pavlo do? He decided to get baptized.

Problem? No time to get baptized during residency. It has to be NOW, or afterwards. More then 2 months down the road. So we did it now.

We called our Zone Leaders, and District leader, to make sure that was possible. We were called by the APs cause they heard something cool was going on, and wanted to know what. Finally, we set a baptismal date for Saturday, the 22nd of November.

Problem--the Branch President, both councilors, Ward mission leader, and Elders Quorum President all can't be there on Saturday. Oops.

So, we decide to do it Sunday. We agree to meet with Pavlo Monday night, and say good bye. We talk to our WML, he says that we can do it the 2nd hour of church, during Sunday School, and then confirm him the 3rd hour, during Sacrament meeting.

The next day, our appointment falls out. Shoot. We set up an appointment for the next day, Tuesday, but we don't have much time--it isn't an easy thing to set up a baptism is 1 week, if everything goes perfectly.

Tuesday it goes through, we go through all the lessons and the questions, he is ready for Baptism. But there is still a lot to do.  We set up an appointment with him for Friday, for his Baptismal Interview with our district leader.

On Friday, we are on our way to the church with our DL, excited, and we receive a call from Pavlo. Bad news, he will be 45 minutes late--fallen out bus. Shoot.

But he makes the interview, barely, and we get the DL and his companion on a train home--the last train that could have gotten them home on time actually.

We go home, and I quickly make calls, find speakers, and set everything up. Everything looks good at this point--but we forgot something. The Ward Baptismal Font, in our 50 year old building, has not been used in 5 years. It is filthy. Filthy.  We quickly schedule time to go clean in on Saturday.

Saturday: it takes 2 hours to clean out the font. We scrub the floor and sides, run water through, scrub again, run water through again, scrub again, run water through again...finally it looks clean! But the water...
It comes out not clear. Rusty colored. CRAP.

We run the water--softly--for a while, and it finally looks like it is clearing up. Sorta.

SUNDAY: Big day. Start praying. We gotta go to the church early to fill the font--AND ITS COLD outside. On the way however--one of the members speaking calls. He is sick. Cant make it. Shoot dang son of a buck.  But we start filling the font. We call our Mission Leader, he offers to give the talk instead. Cool. Great guy. At this point Elder Burton's hair is starting to fall out.

About 9:00, Pavlo calls. His bus fell out. He lives an hour away. He might not be able to be there till 11:00. Problem? Baptismal Service starts at 10:30. OH NO. Elder Burton at this point is sobbing quietly into the font--not really, but on the inside, yes.  We call the GML, he can't do anything, he has to try to get his own family to church. Just when we start to panic, Pavlo calls and says that he will make it by 10:10. Hmm....it works.

10:15. Still no Pavlo. Church has been going for an hour already, the baptismal font is full--a little cold, a little yellowish in color, but ready..and no Pavlo. The members are staring to doubt he is coming, Elder Burton has already paced a hole through all 3 stories of the building, and the only successful thing is little Frieda not pooping her pants.

10:25--Pavlo walks in. YESSSSS. We basically stuff him into baptismal clothing, and are ready to go at 10:30. Problem? the 2nd member speaker never showed up. Oh darn. We quickly call on a relatively recent RM in the ward, he is more then happy to get up and say something. Saweet. God bless Florian the Kassel University Student.

Baptismal goes well, with Elder Burton Baptizing Pavlo. Elder Warby then confirms him in Sacrament meeting, and Pavlo meets Julia--the other Ukrainian student in our ward--and hits it off well. Everything achieved.

Except the one member who yells at Elder Burton for setting up the Chairs in her classroom incorrectly after the service--even though a different member told him to do it that way!!!

Nah, so für eine Taufe.

Success in Confusion

So, there is a strong possibility I may baptize someone this week.

I say possibility, cause we really don't know yet.

''Wait wait wait, Baptism? Those takes weeks to plan! And I thought you didnt have any real progressing investigators?''

Yep. All True.

Long story short, Pavlo, who met with the missionaries for years in Ukraine, wants to get baptized this week. We aren't sure if it will work yet. If it doesn't work this week, he will have to wait a few months, or get baptized in Hannover. If it works out, I will definitely tell you more details next week.

Either way, he is going to get baptized. A Miracle!!

And either way, an investigator I taught is going to get baptized, partly through my personal efforts.

That, is success.

Selfish maybe. But Success.

To illustrate my point, I am going to insert a section of my letter to a friend, that I am kind of using for my main theme this week:

''God's timing is perfect. Think about this, many people believe that the star that appeared at Christ's birth was a supernova, an exploding star. On AVERAGE, super novas appear at least a billion light years away from the earth. to get that star to appear on that specific night where Christ was born, on exactly that specific spot in the sky, that it would lead the wisemen to it, guess what? God created a star in a specific place, Billions of years ago, probably around 12 billion actually, and set it in motion, so that it would explode after about 10 billion years, more then a billion years before Christ was born--so basically before the Earth even needed to be created. Certainly several million years before Adam ever showed up.

And more then a billion years later, that light from that dead star shows up on earth, at the exact night, and I would be willing to bet the exact MOMENT when Christ, the most important person ever to come to the earth, is born. Wait wait wait...this light is more then a billion years old. The star more then 10 times as old. How did God work out THAT calculation?

It would seem fairly easy for him then, to determine when something is going to happen on earth. Whether it is something as little as waking up on time, or something as big as a baptism or mission call...He has got it all worked out.

That is pretty cool to me.''

Long story short, everything works out perfectly in the End.

I don't actually have much else to say this week...awkward. Last week I felt slightly inspiried, filled with the Holy Spirit, ready to cry repentance and spread forth the message of the Restoration. This week I am just hoping I can get everything done--though that everything does indeed include a baptism. Let's hope I can do this--lets hope the Lord wants this to happen.

Let us hope for the Will of the Lord to be done.

Elder Burton

Faith is Power

So, this week....felt like nothing happened. Literally 1 lesson with an investigator, no less than 3 days spent either in Hannover or traveling to and from Hannover, and a whole lot of study. And the 1 day where we really had no prior commitments? Where we could go contact all those people we wanted too?

0 for 7.
No one home, or else not interested.

In that slightly depressing spirit, I am just gunna focus on potential this week. Potential, after all, looks a whole lot better then the past.

First, accomplished potential. I have fulfilled the word of the Lord, or rather seen it fulfilled in me.

One of the better points of last week was during our Saturday Lunch Break. We were on our way to see if one of the big churches in town was open, so we could look inside a little, when a lady stopped us on the street. She soon told us that she was a Jehovah's Witness--very common in German. I then, alone, talked to her about the very nature of God and his Prophets for the next 15 minutes. In German! My companion was and still is too new to contribute very much very fast, and she was very spirited in her arguments, but I had the Spirit. In an argument that ended me feeling very pleased with my ability to respond to her objections, and her out of scriptures and half-truth facts about Mormons to throw at me, I kindly offered her a card, and walked away. Later, I realized how revealing this brief exchange was.

Not only had it all been in fluent German--a enormous miracle--but I had not had to think about my German. Not only that, I had not had to think about what to say. I opened my mouth, and it was filled. Filled by God, filled by the Holy Ghost, and filled by the hours of study I have devoted to the gospel since arriving in Germany.

Second, current potential. I have great potential right now, potential to go one of 2 ways. I have yet to see a baptism, I have yet to see a baptismal date. I have yet to have an investigator even say "yes" when we ask him or her to be baptized!

But something is changing. I can see my faith increasing. Feel it rather. It is still hard, I still am dying to baptize--more then ever in fact. But I know it will happen. I am not panicked, I am not sorrowful, and I am not worried. Urgent, yes. Going as fast as I can, yes. Wishing it was now, yes. But I will find the prepared people. And the people I am teaching now? Many of them will be baptized. I do now know when--but my faith, their faith, and the faith of the members is there. I can see the change in their lives--ever so slowly. And one day they will take that first and important step into the kingdom of God. I do know that.

And third, potential to come. I do not know how silly this letter may seem. I do not know, if I will continue to progress, both as a missionary and as a person, as I have up to this point. But I believe in myself. And, to a certain extent, I am beginning to believe in my testimony.

I think that the hardest part of being a missionary is believing that you have power. If you can believe that you have power, everything else comes. If you have power, you can baptize. If you have power, you can teach. If you have power, you can even get along with your companion!

Powerful testimony, powerful work, powerful effort. All of it is necessary to build the Kingdom of God. And, as I have learned recently in my study of the Old Testament in particular, Power comes by way of faith. As it speak is both Hebrews 11 and in Ether 12, faith is the means by which God accomplishes miracles. By faith the Red Sea was parted, and by faith Nephi built a ship. By faith the very Sun stood still at the word of Joshua, and by faith the 2000 stripling soldiers--warriors rather--fought and saved the Nephites.

And perhaps the key element of faith is action. The very fact that I am now training a new missionary has forced me to begin acting. To bear my testimony, to trust my German, to really act. And it has already proved to be a principal of power in my life.

Miracles are reliant on Power. Power is reliant on Faith. Faith is reliant on Action.

Moral of the story? I hope I DON'T have to point it out, but I will:
Miracles happen when we act.

We can all move mountains by faith. All we need is a shovel.

At this point, I would bear my testimony, but I find it lacks something written down like this, to so many. The opportunity to bear your testimony to individuals is really why we come on missions after all. I will encourage everyone who reads this to begin acting--particularly those preparing for their missions. You have power already, believe it. Believe as I didn't--not at first.

In Closing, a related thought from one of the greatest men I have ever had the blessing to meet, President Kosak. This is not a direct quote, but rather an excerpt from my notes of one of his talks he gave in Stake Conference last week:
Power does not come through experience. Power comes through faith. New members of the church--and new missionaries--can and should have just as much power as those of 30 years of membership or more! Teach them, to have power.

I love you all, I hope you are all safe!
Go Bears!
Elder Burton

A New Companion

So, as you can probably imagine, this has been nothing short of a crazy week. Following emails last Monday, Elder Poch and I spent most of the day packing. Well, him packing, me watching. Tuesday morning, we traveled to Braunschweig, where I hopped off the train and he kept going. I then spent the next 2 days in Braunschweig, serving with Elder Brimhall, who is now one of my favorite missionaries ever. I think that Elder Karlen--one of our zone leaders, who made the plans for us to have companions while we waited for our next companion--was inspired when he placed the 2 of us together. Those 2 days did a lot for me, to cheer me up, and help me to know that I am really ready to train. Or able, at the very least.

The next 2 days were even more crazy, first traveling to Berlin and receiving a new companion, then traveling home--missing 2 trains and finding replacement trains in the process, and still getting home on time--and finally our huge Halloween party as a branch in Kassel. It was a great success, the members loved it, and I hope it is something they will talk about as much as they talk about the last one the missionaries put on.

As far as the work in Kassel goes, as Elder Poch used to say: ''The quality of the work is increasing.'' We do not have any baptismal dates yet, but we are working more and more closely with the members, and even better, with their friends! A significant portion of our teaching pool now consists of the friends of members, which is great! To me it means consistent appointments, steady progress, and lots of good work to do.

As far as the training is going, I believe that it is a good start. Elder Warby has already expressed his desire to ''SYL'' as much as possible, and definitely does not have any particularly bad habits or beliefs that we had to discuss. He is having some trouble staying awake during study times, but as the jet lag wears off, and he acclimates to the missionary schedule, that will improve.

I don't got a lot else this week... oh yeah, I am planning on going to a hiking store and looking at good backpacks today. It has been really rough lately, my back had been slowly and steadily worsening. I am having trouble again doing any morning sport at all, and it really really hurts by the time we return to the apartment in the evening. And the last couple days have been pretty easy too, considering the possibilities!

Here is to hoping for many many appointments, and not much walking. Love you!
Elder Burton

From and email to Samantha --

So, what would you in specific want to hear about....Oh yeah, My favorite members. Their names are Lyra, Clara, and Miriam. They are 3 little girls, all about 4. who absolutely adore the missionaries. I think at some point some elders bribed them all with sugar. I don't know why else they would love us so much. Lyra actually speaks English and German, because her dad speak German with her, and her Mom English. Way cool. There was also a little girl named Zoe Jane who just moved out of the ward actually, who could speak 3 languages. At age 5. English, German, and Russian. Her dad spoke English to her, her Mom Russian, and the other kids and adults German. Can anyone say secret agent material?

We do meet a lot of interesting people actually. This week we are probably going by on a lady who repairs books from like the 1700s, a guy who invents machine parts for trains and trams, a computer programmer from Zambia, a former Muslim Iranian woman who is now Catholic, a Polish dock worker, a former rancher, a Japanese guitar teacher, a chef from Kazakstahn, a college girl from India, and a man who lives without electricity. And those are just our investigators!

Top that, Boston Massachusetts.