Jdubs and Africans 1.31.18

My week was way good, and weird. I don't have much time, but I have some pictures!

To explain the title, I got contacted by some jdubs and they were trying to argue like they all do, and that was fun. And I also talked to some awesome Africans this week, including our boy Usher. I've talked about him a few times in the past.

I hope y'all had a good week! 

-Elder Trussell 

Pics:

1. Zone leader on a split with our district leader driving us around

2. My companion and I with Usher

3. My companion and I

4. I met someone from Atlanta, took a quick picture, he probably thought I was so weird

Ahmad #1.. Ahmad #2.. #3-6?? 1.24.2019

Hallöchen, 

This week has been pretty good. To give y'all a quick run down, we met with our boy Ahmad on Saturday and answered a mountain of questions that he had had about last Sunday. We think it was good for him, and we talked about the Word of Wisdom, and he seems to be willing to make progress to living it fully! We are excited for that!

On Sunday, Ahmad came to church again, and he even came before we arrived. It was an absolutely amazing day, and I could really feel the spirit. The participation in Sunday school was also out of this world, it was awesome! Revelation is real! 

On Monday we had zone conference, and that went good as usual. 

On Tuesday and Wednesday, we just hit the streets, and talked with literally everything that moved. We ended up meeting 4 new guys named Ahmad and getting their contact information. They said that they would be interested with learning more, so we are going to try to meet up with them. Most all of them speak Arabic and come out of the middle east!

And today we just stayed in Speyer and got some chores done. It's been a pretty good week, not going to lie.

I hope y'all had a great week. Always remember to keep your eyes centered on the tree, and to always hold fast to that iron rod. Never let your eyes go astray. 

1 Nephi 8

1 Nephi 11

Love y'all, 

-Elder Trussell 

Pics:

1. We found the Nest(J-dubs) 

2. A doorbell list with Bednar(z) on it

1.17.2019

This week has been good. We have been grinding out here in Rheinland-Pfalz. Not too much happened though, I'll give y'all some highlights. 

* We met with our friend Ahmad on Saturday, and he had his friend, Ahmed, by his house, and we taught them both about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and at the end of the lesson, they both said that they had testimonies of the truthfulness of the church

* Ahmad came to church on Sunday and stayed the whole time, and even for a baptism that was after church. I leaned over to him after the girl had been baptised and said, "would you like to do that too?" and he just laughed a little and said that he needed more time. 

* We met with Brother Pawarzinski(his name is literally impossible to pronounce) and I'm pretty sure that man is one of the three Nephites. He's awesome, and supports us so much. 

* I went on a split with Elder Christensen, and we had an awesome time

Not too much has happened outside of that happened, but in the next few days, from now until Sunday, we have 7 appointments(mostly with members). We will be on trains a lot!

Y'all remember to doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith, the Lord works in mysterious ways, and sometimes you just need the right mindset and outlook to see how and why He does what He does.

Have an awesome week, 

-Elder Trussell 

Pics: 

1. Pics from last week

2. Elder Christensen and I

New Companion 1.10.2019

Hallo mi Amigos,

I tried to send an email out last week with a video, but I'll just attach that video to the this one. 

I got a new companion on Wednesday of last week, and I'm still in Speyer. My new companion is Elder Meldrum from Idaho, and he's been out on the mission for a year and a half already, so I have a lot to learn from him! 

This week has been awesome, we met up with one of our friends of the church named Ahmad, and hes been reading from the book of Mormon and really wants to find out if it's true or not. Keep him in your prayers! 

Also on Wednesday we were doing some street contacting, and I met this way awesome Muslim guy that was trying to bash with me, but he thought I was a normal Christian, and when I started whipping out the true doctrine on him, he got confused, but it ended on a way good note, and we shook hands and he gave me a bro hug. 

Later that day, we were going by on a less active woman in our ward, and on the way, my bike chain broke! We took a picture of triumph right after! I'll attach that! 

Also, I wanted to share with y'all the lyrics to a song that I listened to back home. It goes, "it's funny how you find you enjoy your life when you're happy to be alive," my gosh is that true! This life is about having joy. Adam fell that man might be, and men are that they may have joy. Take a minute to look at your life, and see if you are happy with what's going on, if you aren't as happy as you should be, I can tell you now that our Savior, Jesus Christ can fix that, if you're willing to put your faith in Him.

I love my life, and I've come to do that through Him, Jesus Christ. I have a testimony that He lives and that through Him, we are alive, and through Him, we can come to enjoy our lives. He loves us more than we can even imagine, and that He wants us to be happy. I love the work that I'm doing here in Germany, and I love seeing the change that I make in myself, as I help others become who the Lord needs them to be, and I love the joy that I receive from this gospel. 

Y'all have a wonderful week, and may the Lord bless you! 

-Elder Trussell 

P. S. I'm going to chill at some castle later today, and I'll make sure to hook y'all up with some pictures next week

Pics:

1. Broken bike

2. Video of me from last week

Christmas in Germany 12.27.2018

Hey everyone,

I hope y'all had an awesome week! My week was pretty good, and I have to say, Christmas in Germany has been pretty fun! Haha!

It all started out on Sunday, when Sacrament meeting with ended, and the members flocked us with presents, and even gave us a referral! My ward is literally awesome! Haha! We had an appointment with Valerie afterwards by the Mandels house, and we cooked some German food, ate it, and then had a lesson with Valerie. It went well, and she wants to speak more to us about the church.

On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday we went and hung out at a few members houses, and I got to Skype the family back home, that was a lot of fun.

Today we just went and hung out as a district in Germersheim. We played cards in the freezing cold, and then gave up after we couldn't feel our toes. 

It's been a good week, and I'll attach a few pictures of the week! 

Love y'all! 

-Elder Trussell

Pics:

1. Me and my gingerbread house

2. Karp Familie

3. Raclette(it's like the German Form of Hibachi) 

4. I found a chicken

5. Bruder und Schwester Karp helping me build my house

Donnerstag 12.13.2018

Hey Everyone,

I hope your week has been good, and that all has went well! I will keep this email a little small today, and leave y'all with a few pictures. 

So yesterday we had an area seventy, Elder Engbjerg, come and speak to a few zones in our mission. He said that his duty there, as received from the first presidency, was to talk to us about the new changes within the church. Including the new ministering and come follow me programs.

He talked for a lonnnnnggggg time but it was way spiritual and it was a really good meeting. But one of the major things that stuck out to me, was when he said that these new changes that the church had made are the changes that will bring to pass the combining of the missionary world, and the member World, and that these changes will make the gathering of Israel fasten. 

I invite you to work with the new programs, and actually do your ministering. The Lord will bless the people you minister through your righteous actions, and you will quickly learn that your blessings will multiply countless times over.

I love y'all and hope that you have a good week! 

-Elder Trussell

Pics:

1. Generation pic of me, my trainer, and his trainer(oldest to youngest goes left to right) 

2. My companion, two awesome men in the ward and I after our Christmas party

3. EYE OF THE TIGER

4. 

Speyer 12.6.2018

This past week has been awesome! Its all been a blur, but we have made a lot of progress in the work, and are trying different things out now!

On Friday we had an appointment with the Weibell family and that was a lot of fun. Sister Weibell cooked us some spaghetti and then we sat and watched a Christmas program that the church made a few years ago with David Archuleta in it. 

On Sunday we had an appointment with the Mandel family, and we cooked cookies for our neighbors. Sister Mandel also invited one of her her friends, and she is now a new friend of the church and we are hyped for that! Haha! Her name is Valerie, and she is literally one of the best people I've ever met. 

Yesterday we had a split with the zone leaders, and that was a lot of fun. Elder Webster and I went by on a few less active members of our ward, and they were super cool, and we may have found some real potentials from that, we will try to set up appts. with them.

Today, we hung out as a district here in Speyer and tried to go this one museum, so it was way expensive, so instead we went and played on some random stuff outside. I'll attach a video. 

The Lord loves you, keep giving your best, and show others the love that God has for them. The church is using Light the World again this year, and I encourage y'all to give it a try! You will see blessings! 

Y'all have a blessed week! Love you! 

-Elder Trussell 

Pics:

1. Funny cat

2. We made cookies! 

3. Im the next Spanish elder

4. Baking the cookies with the Mandels

5. Video of the ride

Thanksgiving 11.22.2018

Happy Thanksgiving! Hope y'all have a great week!

I had a good week! I'm thankful for y'all! Love you! 

-Elder Trussell 

Pics:

1. Stake Conference Zone pic

2. On the way to K-town

3. Weird people dressed up for Fasching?? 

4. Lambo that we saw coming back from stake conference(not good quality) 

5. My dad sent my companion a present! 

Ariana Grande was in Ludwigshafen?? 11.15.2018

Hello Jungs! I hope that y'all are doing  absolutely fantastic! We've had a pretty exciting week!

Just to give you a quick rundown, Friday we had a pretty cool day. We met with the Spanish elders, and went and had a lesson with a less active Spanish sister in their ward. We had a good time with that! It's always good to spend some time with the boys! 

On Saturday, we did some missionary stuff, and then went to Ludwigshafen for the day. We talked to a lot of people, and hopefully will be teaching some of them. We met this one Muslim girl named Viona, and she was way cool, and very open to speak about the Gospel. She speaks very good English, so it makes it easy! 

On Sunday we had our wards primary program, and we ended up singing in that with the kids! Haha! We then went to a members house and had some bomb burritos! The wife is American, so she knows how to do it right! Haha! After that we had a lesson with this Muslim guy that we met a few days prior, and that went well and really opened my eyes to the goodness of all people. We were able to learn much about each other's religions, and ultimately agree on a lot of principles that the Muslims and Christians see eye to eye on. He said that he was willing to learn more, and we gave him a Book of Mormon. After that lesson, I had a pretty cool experience which I will share later. 

Monday was our last district council for this transfer, and we are expecting a few changes to our district! The zone leaders came to our district council as well! We took some photos, and they are attached to this email! 

Tuesday, we had a split, and I went to Karlsruhe with Elder McBride, and we had a good time, talking to old Serbian men and a man that told us that we were going to outer darkness! That was fun!

Wednesday was a pretty laid back day, not much happened. 

And today, we went to go to a friggen castle! I was so hyped, it was my first time to be in a castle! It was super foggy though, so I didn't really get to see the full glory of it, and the pictures are probably not that great as well.. But I'll add some in. 

So my week was pretty decent, but I wanted to write a little more about what happened after our appointment with this man. This man, named Sinan, had many different beliefs as me, but we were still able to sit down with one another, and have an amazing spirit filled conversation about the beliefs one another had. During the appointment, my eyes were opened to how much God really loves his children, and how we can, through love and charity, really get along with everyone. We developed a relationship with one another, and made a potential doorway for the salvation of one of our brothers.

After the lesson we walked and talked and got to know him a little better, and he was super open to us, and he was extremely friendly. We definitely made a friend that night. 

As we were coming home, we stepped out of our train, and there was a big crowd of people, and as we walked through them, I really looked at them, and lots of them were with someone, and they were hugging, which would typically make me cring, but I didn't, what happened instead was amazing. I looked at them, all of them, every person on that gleiß, and I felt a pure love come over me, of which I believe was a small glimpse of the love the savior has for us.

This was an eye opening experience for me, and while I may have felt this unnatural love for random people this strong only once, it is something I am beginning to strive for, day in, and day out. I believe that this is something that everyone of us should strive for, and as an invitation to you, I want to invite you to prepare yourself to share this love, as we enter this Christmas season. 

As missionaries we have already seen what the Christmas program looks like this year, and a large portion of the program is centered on love. Please prepare yourself for this program, and really be able to show others the love that Christ has for them, through the actions you will do to uplift them. After all, you are disciples of Jesus Christ.

Anyways, I love y'all so much, and think about you often. I hope your week is fantastic, and that your prayers come true. 

-Elder Trussell

Pics: (unorganized) 

1. District pics, and in one of them, we remade our last district pic. 

2.WW2 memorial statue

3. "the sign" 

4. District at subway

5. Dog in a tracksuit thing

Wie geht's! 11.8.2018

Hallo mein Lieblings!

Ich hoffe mich daß euere Woche gut war! Bitte schreib mir an und erzähl mich über diene Woche und leben! Lass mich über meine Woche sprechen!

Diese Woche war ziemlich gut! Wir haben mit vielen Leute auf die Straße gesprochen, und ein paar hat Interesse! Gestern haben wir mit einem Mann aus Africa gesprochen, und er hat uns erzählt daß er 14 geschwestern hat!! Das ist krass! Meine Tante hat 8 und wir denken daß das soviel ist! Kannst du vorstellen???! Krass!

Auch haben wir einen Mann aus Kroatien uns getroffen, ruf zu meinem Cousin Elder Trussell, wer jetzt in Kroatien dient. 

Auch haben wir uns mit einer Frau im Zug getroffen, und sie hat gesagt daß sie Pferde Turnen tut! Meine gute, meinen Herz fast explodiert hat.. Das ist krass! Sie hat uns erzählt daß sie Handstands auf der Pferde und etwas anderes auch! Meine gute, ich habe mir gedacht daß das sehr cool war.. 

Ja, diese Woche war sehr toll! Und auch, unsere Hobby mit Tisch-Tennis wächst! Ich liebe Tisch-Tennis, und wir haben ein Tisch-Table Tisch in unsere Keller, und wir spielen fast jeden Abend. Du kannst sagen daß wir Profis sind! 

Aber ja! Ich hoffe mich daß Google translate alles richtig übersetzt und daß ihr eine gute Woche haben werden! 

Ich habe liebe für euch! 

Bis Nächste Woche! 

-Elder Trussell 

Bilder:

1. Am schönsten Stadt in alle Deutschland! (Ludwigshafen) 

2. Wir aßen €2,50 Döners

3. Schon Abendlicht! 

Wöchentlich Email 11.1.18

Hallo Guten Tag meine Lieblings! 

I hope that this week has been good, and that you had an amazing Halloween experience! 

I'm trying to think of what I should share with you today, there isn't too much that has happened this week, but we have been very busy, and that's always a nice thing as a missionary! We actually have 6 dinner appointments in this week alone, and that is unheard of! Haha! We are getting really excited for that, and hopefully we eat alot of real German food!

We have been going finding in a place called Ludwigshafen alot because our mission president recommended it, and we took his advice because everything else was going very slow for us. Ludwigshafen is a very special place. To give you a little background on it, it was voted the ugliest city in Germany, and it has an extremely high percentage of refugees, so it makes for a fun time. But anyways, we have been going there, and that is where I met Usher last week, and Luca this week! 

Luca is awesome. He is a business student at one of the local universities, and he is a pretty classy guy that speaks perfect English. We contacted him pretty late at night in Ludwigshafen and had a really good conversation about the Gospel, and about God's plan for us. We have since then been in contact with him, and we are talking to him about some of his questions that he has. One of the things that we are trying to help him understand, is that through faith, sincere prayer, and reading the Scriptures, in particular the Book of Mormon, we can come to receive confirmation from the Holy Ghost that God is there, and that He wants us to be happy. 

While we were preparing to send him a text detailing this, it gave me time to think about the Book of Mormon, and what I was telling this man about it. I was telling him that if he would read it, that he would discover his purpose here in this life. That is a very strong statement, but it is true, with the Book of Mormon, we can discover the plan that God has for us. The Book of Mormon shows us the fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and it gives us guidance in our lives. The Book of Mormon is the true word of God, and does testify of Jesus Christ in nearly every word. 

We shared with him Alma 32:26-28, which talks about how faith starts with a hope, and as we exercise this hope, we will be able to tell if something is true and of God if it brings forth good fruit. We are praying that as he keeps pondering these questions that he has, and as he finds answers to his questions in the Scriptures, that he will begin to see the fruits thereof. I would like to ask you to keep him in your prayers, and pray that the spirit of God comes over him. Even one prayer can mean alot.

I will keep y'all updated on him, but other than that, yesterday we had a Halloween dinner with a member family, and we carved pumpkins, so I have some fun pictures!

Oh also, my companion and I have been listening to the song "Hallelujah" a ton over the past couple of days, and discovered that there are over 300 versions of it, and I wanted to ask that y'all send us some more versions of that, and also just of Christmas music! That would be much appreciated!

I hope y'all have a fantastic week and that you enjoy the pictures I'm sending you! Haha! 

-Elder Trussell 

Pictures: (it's way out of order, sorry) 

1. Self-explainable

2. Before the carving

3. My CTR pumpkin

4. Left to right: Yoda, CTR, Idk, Cat, Chicken

5. My second beautiful carving

6. We found a swingset