This week was awesome; not just one of the weeks that I say was awesome because I don't want to have to explain why it wasn't. I came in to the new area like a tornado and I'm stoked to see all the cool things that we can get done in this city. Rostock is an old port-city with lots of awesome history. There is currently a big clock in the center of the town that is counting down the days until Rostock becomes 800 years old, just 90 days until the big celebration! I think that I will probably still be here when it happens, I'll let you know how it is.
My new companion is named Elder Keenan Nielson, he is super great. We get along really well and are going to have a ton of fun together. I would be really excited if nothing changed until the end of my mission. We have some pretty amazing investigators and friends.
Our investigator that is making the most progress right now is named Shayan. She is Kurdish and speaks a bunch of different languages. She has one of the most amazing stories I've ever heard. She is my age but has already experienced so many different trials. As she was forced to leave her home, she was on a boat with 200 other refugees going across the mediterranean sea. The boat started to sink and nobody knew what to do. In all the chaos, she fell asleep and dreamed of Jesus Christ. She woke up calm and somehow they made it to shore in Greece. When she made it to Germany, she knew that she wanted to become Christian and has been searching for the church with the proper authority to baptize ever since.
It's pretty amazing that I have the chance to work with so many awesome people. The mission has helped me to find some new heroes to look up to. I have also been taught time and time again that we never know what other people have been through. I am glad that I have the chance to help people find peace in their lives through forgiveness. The gospel is truly a blessing better that anything we could ever buy.
2 Nephi 26:25 Behold, doth he cry unto any, saying: Depart from me? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; but he saith: Come unto me all ye ends of the earth, buy milk and honey, without money and without price.
If you don't know what that means, try forgiving someone who has angered you, try humbling yourself when you're accused of something, try being like Jesus. I promise it will change the way you look at your life.
I love you all!
-Elder Openshaw
1. me and my new comp
2. me trying to get a nice sticker
3. first day together
4. morning jog along the docks
5. team of spray painters
6. sean-lucas rocking his first tie
