Russell and Eileen's Church Missions: SHARING OUR FAITH

Today is Father’s Day in the United States. I (Eileen) have been very blessed to have a wonderful father and a good husband who has been a great companion and father to our children. Usually on Father’s Day we have a big dinner at our house where the fathers in our life can relax and be pampered. I will miss being with all of our family members today, but I truly do love them. I am grateful to have my best friend as my missionary companion and my eternal companion.

In our role as humanitarian missionaries we are not allowed to talk about doctrines of our church while working with NGO project partners or with those served by the projects. This applied to us also while we served in Indonesia as humanitarian missionaries. While serving in the missionary department our role was to work with potential missionaries, mission presidents and stake presidents. Although this is our third mission we have never had much of an opportunity as missionaries to share what we so firmly believe to be true with others.

On Friday we had what was for us the rather rare experience of extending invitations to others to explore our faith, and then later that evening to witness the baptism of someone else who had accepted our faith.

In order to live in Germany legally it is necessary to have a resident’s permit within 3 months of arrival. If we neglect to get one and then travel outside of the EU, we would be barred from reentering Germany. The emphasis from the HR department has been that we must get our residence permit soon. We have now been in Germany for six weeks. It is possible to make an appointment for registration but currently the appointments are booked out until next fall. We were asked if we would be willing to “take a chance” and go early on Friday morning to stand in line and see if we could actually get in without an appointment.

We arrived at the registration building at 7 a.m. only to find a very long line outside of the building. The doors would not open until 7:30 a.m. We got in line with many other foreigners, most of which appeared to be from the Middle East, Africa and Eastern Europe. Several people who arrived after us moved their way up through the line past us to be at the front. While annoying, my husband felt it was inappropriate as a missionary to display righteous indignation – better to “turn the other cheek.” There was some grumbling among others who had qued up appropriately but I think everyone was afraid of making a disturbance for fear of possibly preventing himself or herself from getting their much needed paperwork completed.

We finally were able to get in to see someone at 10:30 a.m. The conversation regarding the paperwork was done in German with Gabi, a woman from our office, doing the translating. The woman behind the desk was looking at our papers and became very animated. We were concerned that perhaps something wasn’t in order. Gabi translated for us the following conversation. “It says here that your church is called The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I have been reading the Bible and this is truly the Latter Days.” Not exactly what we expected to hear when we were at a government office. The woman who I will call Gertrude than continued to say that her husband died five years ago on September 11, which also happens to be Russell’s birthday. She said she has been searching for answers but has not found all she is seeking for within the Bible. I gave her what we call a pass along card in German with a picture of Jesus Christ on the front and a phone number and website address for information on our church. Gertrude continued to talk about her family and how her son does not want to have any children because he doesn’t want to bring them into such an evil world. We explained how we have 13 grandchildren and they bring us such joy. We empathized with her and her desire to have grandchildren. In the end she gave Gabi her address and said she would like to keep in touch. This was a most surprising but pleasant occurrence for us.

While talking with Gertrude there was a young couple in the booth next to us trying to process their papers. Unlike us, they had nobody to translate for them. After a few minutes they were sent out of the office. Later we saw them waiting downstairs. Russell asked them if they had been able to get their residence permit. They said they had to acquire more documentation. We started visiting with them. The couple was newly arrived from Eritrea. While talking with them I noticed that the young woman kept staring at my missionary badge. The young man kept fingering a necklace, which turned out to be a cross. I asked if they were Christian and they responded affirmatively. I was able to give them a pass-a long card, which they seemed to be very appreciative for. I was wishing I had one in English.

Sometimes we don’t always understand why certain things happen. Was it more than happenstance that our long wait that morning allowed us to be in a place where we could meet Gertrude and the couple from Eritrea? Or perhaps are there opportunities all around us and we just fail to notice them most of the time.

Friday night I attended the baptism of a beautiful young woman named Matta. She is currently living in Germany and has for several years. Originally Matta was from Iran. There were at least 100 people who attended the baptism. Among them were several young men from Iran who have joined our church since immigrating to Germany. Sister Leimer spoke about why we get baptized and the covenants we make. Elder Hales spoke on the Gift of the Holy Ghost. He related a meaningful story about the impressions that a young father had regarding his daughter. Those impressions saved the daughter’s life. Over the years we too have had many such impressions regarding our members of our family. We are very grateful for the influence of the Holy Ghost in our lives.

We are so grateful to be members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. If you would like to know more about our beliefs you can go to the website www.mormon.org.

This photo was taken on the day our youngest son was sealed to us in the Bountiful Temple. It includes Eileen's parents Russell's father and his wife and his two youngest brothers.