Dragon Boat Festival

Hey. Still happy. Still staying in Jena. Gonna be here for at least 6
more weeks. Still with elder Hsu. Still very awesome mission work.

-this week is dragon boat festival in china, so the Chinese
members/friends have been treating us extra special!
-they give us this special food called lo zhong! So so so good! (It's
pretty much a mix between a Mexican tamale, sushi, and kalua pork. All
wrapped in a palm leaf, so so good!)

-we have many friends in Jena, and whenever we go out on the street we
see at least one person we know. I love this place!
-I'm going to live in Jena after my mission. I don't know how or why,
but it's going to happen.

-German children are the cutest in the world. We often walk past this
kindergarten where the teacher will take them all out for a walk in
the morning. She puts them all in this big long wagon and pulls them
down the sidewalk, and they always smile and wave at us with their
cute reflective vests on! (Germans will make their kids wear the
funniest things sometimes)

-the branch was so happy that elder Hsu and I are staying, so they had
us both give our testimonies. I talked about the story of Jonah (our
mission president's wife read the story to us and it has really been
on my mind.)

Here is my favorite verse of the story,
Jonah 1:6   So the shipmaster came to him, and said unto him, What
meanest thou, O sleeper? arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God
will think upon us, that we perish not.

Sometimes I fear that many of us are "sleepers," that we coast from
place to place, and sometimes we feel that we have fled "far from the
Lord."
Sometimes we hide our emotions deep in the belly of the ship of our
lives, and let our spirituality sleep soundly as we go from day to
day.
We don't need stormy seas or fearing shipmasters to wake us from our
slumber. We just need to wake up to the little moments of kindness
that we often let slip by.  We are never far from the Lord, and he
will hear our cries even from the belly of the whale.

I love all of you!
Don't be sleepers!

Love,
Elder Openshaw

Significance

I don't send spiritual emails often, I also don't really talk about my
feelings very often. So I just wanted to send you guys a "status of my
soul" update.

Best week of my life. Really nothing much more I can say. I know that
God lives, I know that he loves us. There's no doubt in my mind that
we are children of God, that we are made to love each other. And it is
by loving each other that we learn to love ourselves, love our lives,
love our trials, love breathing, love the little quiet moments.

These last 9 months have changed me. There is more substance to my
soul, because I'm doing a more significant work than I have ever done.
I love my mission. I love this town, I love all of you.

Love,
Elder Openshaw

Message in a bottle

You know... I really want to start off this email with something sassy, but I'm not entirely sure who I'd be sassing off to. Also I'm not sure what to say, not getting a whole ton of audience reaction... hard to improvise. So here's my week.

-went to this awesome little town, could not find a single person to talk to... and the guy that we tried to visit wasn't home. So that was a day of my life. Elder Hsu took some pictures of me though. 

-talked to some awesome Chinese girls! One wasn't super interested in the gospel, and the other one is on a diet. (She had interest in the gospel, but won't come to our BBQ 🙁) 

-discovered an old favorite german/French word "Niveau," not super significant, but I don't know what you guys are looking for. 

-played basketball with the Chinese crew

-played volleyball with the south India crew 

-had some strange dreams. (I really have started dreaming a lot recently)

-loving Germany, Mother's Day and everything. 

-ran out of time to email. Sorry 

-President Hinkley words of wisdom... "So many of us make a great fuss of matters of small consequence. We are so easily offended. Happy is the man who can brush aside the offending remarks of another and go on his way."  

This quote is really true, and I hope that we can look to walk on the sunny side of the street, be slow to anger, and love one another. 

I love you all!

Love,

Elder Openshaw 

Tiger Week

Missions are so strange. It's non-stop just doing things that I've
never done (or never really wanted to do) and loving it!

We went to Leipzig for interviews with President Fingerle and I stayed
there for another day on companion exchange. Too many stories to write
out... here's a recap
1. Went out finding around a random neighborhood while waiting for interviews
2. Talked to some Jungs (guys, but a way better word) gonna play
soccer with them.
3. Talked to another Jung... he told us all about how he believes that
aliens created us. And then we discovered his questionable looking
cigarette was indeed what we suspected.
4. Talked to an old lady. Then looked at the time and realized that we
had to go back. So we had to awkwardly follow the lady because she was
walking the same direction as us.

Next day in Leipzig was an adventure again! We had a street display.
(I hope I can track down pictures.) we wrote on the ground, "was
sind'n Mormonen?" Which roughly translated to "what even are
mormons?!" As you can imagine, we got some pretty wacky answers. We at
least got some good laughs from strangers, and nobody called us JWs
the whole day!

The next day Elder Hsu and I were swindled into running a 6k relay.
The missionaries often get volunteered to do things, so I shouldn't be
too surprised. It was a good experience, team motto was "get passed,
but don't get last." I don't really know how it applied to mission
work, but the lady that we ran with bore her testimony about it, so
that's success right there.

Next day we played basketball with the Chinese crew again. Fantastic
as always! And then on Sunday all of our Chinese friends showed up to
church! Elder Hsu and I were both so happy, we went and bore our
testimonies in Chinese. (His Chinese was a lot better than mine).

Just realized that this email is way too long and probably none of you
are going to read it. But I'll leave you with something that I've said
in Chinese countless times this week... I know that God exists. I know
that because I have seen, and felt, and read, and know too many things
to ever deny it. God exists, and you can find that out if you ask and
pray. Look around at this springtime, enjoy the beautiful flowers and
the green grass; and as you look around and enjoy a moment of peace,
remember the story of Elijah...

11 ...And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind
rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but
the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but
the Lord was not in the earthquake:
12 And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire:
and after the fire a still small voice.ii

Take a moment to listen to that voice.

I love you all,
Elder Openshaw

1. The member missionary crew (seriously the best collection of people
you'll ever see.) (shout out to Eva going to London south, she'll be a
great missionary!)
2. For Elder Mexico
3. Relay crew

"Nicht versagen, Elders Fragen!"

Another great week! Tons of fun activities, bad Chinese, and interesting people!

Things of this week
-street display: this time we were ready for the eager crowds! We
brought the district with, and went out armed with chalk and our
trusty whiteboard. It was tons of fun, and lots of little kids stopped
and helped us to draw our house!
-chicken stand: elder Hsu can't pass up parking lot chicken. It was
honestly so good, And the chicken stand guy wanted a Book of Mormon!
-flowers: spring flowers in Germany are incredible, and made for super
fun "grandma visits"
-Facebook: yes, I'm allowed to use it. Yes, it's weird. Yeah, I know
in your day that missionaries would go door to door all day. Yes, the
world is changing.
-Chinese: still working hard. Still don't know if someone said that
they liked the food or that they want to sleep.
-friends: we have lots of friends visiting the church right now, they are good.
-trains: I'm going to miss riding on trains when I go home.
- the gospel: still true.
-my favorite scripture story at the moment: Christ and the rich young
ruler. An incredible reminder to invest in the things that matter. If
being a Christian just meant to follow the Ten Commandments,
Christianity would be an awfully shallow practice. I am so grateful to
know that being "Christian" means so much more than going to church on
Sunday. I am grateful to be part of a church that teaches us to serve
our fellow men. There is so much joy awaiting anyone who will serve
those around them.
"We become more substantive as we serve others--indeed, it is easier
to “find” ourselves because there is so much more of us to find! …"
-President Spencer W. Kimball

I love you all,
Tell your mom how much you love her,

Elder Openshaw

Working with my hands

Received 4/24/2017

As I may have told you, I am staying in Jena this transfer with Elder Hsu!
(That is great news if you want to know... I love it here)

Wow, well this week I received permission to use Facebook to help with
mission work. I know it sounds like a weird prospect, but it doesn't
really change a lot about my mission. Don't worry, I will still be out
on the street facing plenty of "affliction", but it also adds an
element of being able to find and contact people in what has become in
this world "the normal way." I have seen already how great of a tool
it can be if we use it right.

I've got no motivation to write right now... so here's a list of
things from my mission life.

-Elder Hsu is "really short actually" -elder Hsu
-Eva works at the bakery, she is also short
-Annika can eat more than you (it doesn't matter who you are)
-C&A had a grand reopening
- we use the Schäfers wifi
-the gospel can make you happy
-Elder Hsu sleep talks
-Here are some pictures of elder Hsu
-I love all of you

Dragon Week!

Received 4/17/2017 

Elder Hsu and I just finished our "Dragon Week!" It was super intense,
and just an incredible week! We named it "dragon week" because at the
beginning of the transfer we had planned out all of our activities,
and this week was packed full of them!

We started out by having a street display on Tuesday. (Pictures
included) We used a huge Book of Mormon and big banner from the Prince
of Peace. It was tons of fun, and we all ended up having some great
conversations with people on the street.

We also had a street display Wednesday where we wrote a question on a
whiteboard and then asked people to answer it for us, and that was so
much fun! I got the chance to use my Chinese a lot, and we met tons of
people from different cultures and countries! Jena is incredibly
diverse, and I've discovered how useful it is to be an English native
speaker.
After the street display we prepared for the big activity for this
transfer! That was an Easter musical night at the church. Elder Hsu
and I planned an coordinated the whole thing, and it turned out to be
a huge success! We had 6 non-members and 3 less active members show
up, and 3 of the non-members actually performed!
I was the MC and prepared a presentation about the week before Easter.
I was honestly very nervous to be presenting in German for what was
planned to be a really classy evening. But as I got up to speak I felt
so calm and the german just came to me. There are moments of great
power that I have experienced on my mission, and I know that God will
always give me peace and the power to testify of his Son. There are
moments on my mission where I've realized that my whole life has led
me to this point, and I'm really grateful for that.

Thursday we had another busy day, and the highlight was when I stopped
someone on the street and spoke Chinese to them! They were super
surprised and it was incredible to watch their reaction. He only
believes in science, but still a cool experience haha.

Friday I went to Erfurt! We were on an exchange and I got to go to
this awesome ward Easter activity! I got to see all the people from my
first area! Some of the kids remembered me and came running up to tell
me that they remembered the scripture that we memorized together haha.
Super awesome day!

Saturday and Sunday were busy too, but you guys don't get to hear
about them. Sorry.

Read the scriptures and believe in Christ!

I love you all!

Love,
Elder Openshaw

1-2. Tuesday street display
3. District photo
4. Glamour shot on the random path through the woods
5-6. Wednesday street display

Faust des Friedens

Received 4/10/2017

What a great week again! And honestly time is just flying by right now.

This week we did some power mission work! Meaning that we had to make
everything happen. Honestly some things were a pain, but looking back
we got a lot done.

I love you all! But I'm really not feeling like writing a whole ton.
So here are some pictures to keep you tied over until next week...

Zeugen Jesu Christi

Received 4/3/2017 

This week was incredible! And like always, we were mistaken for the
Jehova's Witnesses many times. As we applied for permission to hang
posters around the town, the lady helping us wrote down "Zeugen..."
(witnesses) and then took a long look at our name tags and wrote "Jesu
Christi." So I hope that we didn't accidentally get the Jehovas
Witnesses permission to hang signs...

This week was a cool collection of really random things! Probably the
highlight was playing basketball with 15 Chinese guys. I had an
incredible height, speed, and experience advantage. I honestly felt
like I should play in the NBA, and it turns out that a couple of them
had interest in the church!

Honestly I can't think of anything else to add.

I love Jena! I never want to leave this place.

Love,
Elder Openshaw

1. Hiking the hills
2. Musical Night! Would love to see you there!
3. Waiting for Mahmud

Plus: I promise that we wear mission clothes. I'll prove it next week!

Taiwan

Received 3/27/2017

It's strange to think that I'm in the middle of Germany right now, because everything in my life right now is Chinese and Taiwanese. I honestly love it so much! 

I'm honestly the happiest I've ever been my whole life, and I'm working harder that I have my whole life. It feels incredible to get up at 6:30 every morning, to study and learn and grow in a million different ways throughout the day. 

This week was amazing! Just one highlight for the email though... which was ending up finding the "India crew." Elder Hsu and I went to an appointment and when we knocked on the guys door, a group of Indian men answered. They invited us in and we sat down and just chatted for quite a while, then the topic changed to religion, and we ended up explaining the Book of Mormon and modern prophets. We were in this small little room, so only three of them were sitting talking with us, despite there being 15 people in this apartment (I have no idea what they were all doing there). After we explained to the first three, another three guys came in and asked us to explain again. That happened several times, and we ended up giving them all the Book of Mormon. The next day we played basketball and explained the church to another guy, and giving him a Book of Mormon as well. They are so excited to read, and I'm excited to see how they progress! 

I just want to say that happiness comes through fulfilling your potential, so I would encourage you all to do that. Love you all!

Love,

Elder Openshaw

šWéLÀÏ

1. Some of my favorite people!

2. Elder Hsu... not much more to say

3. Elder Hsu's normal seat on the bus

Dream city Jena

 Received 3/20/2017

I'm seriously living the dream right now! Honestly this is the
greatest area! I got transferred to Jena, and I've been here since
Wednesday. It is an incredibly pretty city, with tons of students at
the University. It is known as the Chinese speaking area of the
mission, and it has great potential!

I'm serving in a branch (one of my dreams)
With a Taiwanese companion (he's so awesome)
In a beautiful city (also really close to Erfurt)
With senior couple missionaries here in the same city (Elder and
Sister Bjorkman are some of the funniest and greatest people I've ever
met)

Elder Hsu is lots of fun to be around, and we've had some awesome
experiences already. It seems like the street is so alive here in
Jena! There's always something to laugh about!

Funny stories:
We stopped this guy on the street even though he was in a rush; he
took out his headphones and said in a very desperate tone that he had
to go to the bathroom! Then he took off running into the library to go
take care of business, haha I hope he made it!

Then an hour later we were eating next to this 7 year old Chinese girl
and her mom, and we started talking to them. They were super nice, and
then when Elder Hsu explained that we were from the Mormon church the
mom politely said that they had an appointment in 10 minutes and that
they had to go. Then the little girl yelled "but mom! We still have an
hour and a half!" The mom was super embarrassed, we were laughing like
crazy haha.

I heard an analogy this week that I really loved. A member of the
stake presidency was talking about his time in the military, and how
we was on the construction crew. Every time that they would get out of
the armored vehicle, they had to take out a box of ammunition and
explosives and put it under the vehicle. He had no idea why they were
supposed to do it, but it was explained to him that it was normal
procedure. One time they worked really late into the night, and they
forgot to put the box of explosives back in the vehicle; as they went
to drive, the armored vehicle got stuck because the box of explosives
wedged up under them. After a long time, they finally got the vehicle
unstuck and the explosives safely back in the vehicle. As they went to
report to some commanding officer, he asked why they had been carrying
around all these explosive things for so long? It turned out that
nobody knew how or why the explosives were in his truck in the first
place.
He said that it is a lot like repentance. That if we don't repent, we
end up carrying around explosive things for no reason, and that one
day they will hurt us. He talked about how we should just leave it
behind, and don't go back for it. He said that it is such a burden to
carry around our sins, and one day we will look back and realize how
pointless it was to carry deadly things with us for so long.
I know that this is true, and I'm so impressed with the healing power
of repentance. I know as we leave explosive things behind, that we can
look forward to so many blessings in the future.

I love you all!
-Elder Openshaw

1. When I fell asleep during my first Chinese lesson....
2. Eating at a "reliable buffet"
3. Saying goodbye to Volkswagen city