Liddle Mission Blog: Woche Dreiundvierzig

Liebe Familie und Freunde,

Guten Tag! I found out Saturday morning that I am staying in Bamberg. Not only that, but I am training once again. I feel somewhat inadaquate, but honored for the opportunity. I have learned so much from the people I've trained, and really, they've trained me for something greater. In church, Elder Sheppard is just such a good strong missionary somehow some members thought he trained me. I was thinking about it, and they're right. He trained me. I'm excited to be trained once again. I get to ride down to Frankfurt tomorrow for the training meeting, and Wednesday I'll get my new companion. I'm excited for something new, but I will miss Elder Sheppard so much. He's helped me develop maybe more than any companion I've ever had. We complemented one another so well. We covered each other's weaknesses with my our strengths.

This past week was super awesome! We didn't have too much time to find new people because we were busy teaching and baptizing. I can see there is a huge need for member referrals. If we want to baptize 8 people by the end of the year, we still need 4 more to be baptized. Time is running out. We had a wonderful baptism with [S_____ R_____] this weekend. We worked really hard with him, and despite his lack of understanding everything, he has such strong faith to do anything the Lord wants him to do. This week, he wants to go street contacting with us. He's so ready to work with us. [H_____] will be baptized this coming Friday and then it's just on to finding more people. It's so awesome being a missionary and striving to recognize and follow the Lord's will. There is just no greater joy than that.

This week we had a crazy experience. We left [S_____]''s baptism early because Elder Sheppard felt like we needed to go. We left and we got home to do phone calls and area book work. I took off my shoes, and we just kinda settled in back home. I called [H_____], and something really wierd happened. It sounded like he was having an argument with his mom, and his dad told us that he just wasn't home and quickly hung up on me. I called 10 minutes later and he said he wasn't home. The thought came to me that we might need to ride up that huge hill to get to his house. We prayed... twice! We got on our way and raced off in the dark on our bikes. We climbed that hill, and I was thinking the whole time. I hope he's doing ok! I love [H_____], I'll do anything for him. We got to his house, and we had no idea why we were there. We prayed a few times. We knocked on the door and talked with his Dad, and he said [H_____] wasn't there. We walked away confused and prayed like 20 times on what to do. Eventually we realized we should go one more time. We had already spoken with his dad 3 times. It was ridiculous, but we asked one more time if [H_____] was there and explained we had a strong feeling to come, and that we love [H_____]. He said he'll come to church tomorrow but he's not home. I have no idea why we were supposed to do that, but the Spirit guided us not knowing beforehand what we should do. It was a crazy experience, but I'm glad we obeyed the Spirit. We then prayed a last time and felt we were finished and could go home. We were confused. [H_____] said the next day at church that he had a really really hard day Saturday, and maybe that had something to do with it. I don't know. It was wierd, but it felt good to follow the Lord's will. True story. I know that God is mindful of everyone's individual conditions and that he loves us. Thank you for the love and support and prayers. I appreciate it all. I always feel inadaquate to be a missionary, but I think that's a good thing to be able to do miracles with the Lord. I love you all!

Liebe Grüße,

Elder Matthew Liddle

[Elder Liddle attached the following images without specific explanations. You can figure out who Elder Sheppard is. We presume the group shot is their district, and you can tell which are the pre-baptism photos. See below for some commentary.]