A Change, I Could Use Some Change

Dear Family,

Another transfer starting and thank goodness for a change too! Honestly, I needed a change and now I have a new companion Elder Hassley! He is another German, really nice, friendly, and overall a fun person to be around. 

This week, has been really interesting, with me trying to take over an area. I THOUGHT I knew everything about my area, what trains, buses, what times, everything comes and goes, but I don't.. So this week was... Whats the right word? Exciting? Adventurous? A whole new experience from the past 4 months, where I had no clue what I was doing. Haha, I still dont have a clue what I am doing, but I try my best. This week we had another service project with Garten Arbeit and that was exciting. Raking, chopping, trimming, and ja, Garten Arbeit. With all this service, I have some time to think and ponder. The story that keeps popping into my head is the story of The Currant Bush.

So here is my spiritual thought for this week. The Currant Bush story, I think we all know it. If you have forgotten, look it up by, Elder Hugh B. Brown. I realize more and more that I need to change. I have many faults, many imperfection, and yet I feel that I always fall short. At times when I feel down I remember the purpose of the Atonement, and how Heavenly Father says,“I am the gardener here. I know what I want you to do.” We have no clue our potential. I remember Jeremy`s homecoming talk and how he talked about racing horses and how we have great potential with having Heavenly parents. Then I think about why we go through such hard times. Hard times, where we feel alone, we feel under high pressure, we cannot move anymore. We want to give up and just cry. And as we cry or cannot move anymore, it seems we fall. Yet when we fall, we naturally, fall to our knees. At these moments we may realize, we have forgotten about prayer, Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, the Atonement. It is at these moments, that we realize, we have forgotten who the Gardener is. In the future we will look back at these times and say,“Thank you, Mr. Gardener, for cutting me down, for loving me enough to hurt me.”

I love that phrase. I love you all and pray for you immer.

Love,

Elder Annen