Nach Bernberg

TRANSFERED, well off to Bernburg I go, I will be serving with Elder Illum from Roy Utah! He’s only 1 transfer older than my current trainee Elder Burns… it’ll be great! I’ll still be in the same stake as Zwickau so I’ll see all the members in a few months at stake conference! But I’ll be sad to leave, a lot of great members here I won’t forget. I had a great time with Elder Burns, I had a great time training (and he wasn’t very hard to train) but we had a great time, and he’ll have a great mission. And I’ll miss soccer with the orphans… oh so much, some of the coolest kids.

Soooo, this week we did tons of service, the most I’ve done on my mission. We helped a family move in and moving a couch up 4 flights of stairs in a cramped German apartment is interesting… but it was cool! Then right after we went to an older swester in the ward and helped her in her garten, and I cleaned out her plastic pond. That took a while… she’s the old lady that yells at us the whole time because we don’t do it exactly how she wants it. Last week I trimmed her tree, take a moment to imagine being on the top of a ladder, and having someone on the ground try and point out and describe which branch to cut… that’s hard in your mother language right? Now in German that’s nearly impossible. “NEIN, NEIN, NEIN!” Haha but she loves us, she’s just a super grumpy person. I’ll miss going over for sure.

Also this week we finished helping a member with their giant hole they have to dig…. 4 hours 6 feet deep. It was Camp Green Lake. “Let me tell you boys a story, once upon a time there was a place, where it never rained. THE END” yeah it felt like that.

This week, I gave some more thought to the Atonement. A few interesting things were found reading in the book of Mark.

Mark 14:33 “And he taketh with him Peter and James and John, and began to be sore amazed, and to be very heavy;

In my New Testament study guide it says:

Mark’s language bears witness of the reality and severity of the
Savior’s suffering. The Greek word translated
“sore amazed” in the text can refer to a range of emotions, including
amazement, awe, astonishment following great shock, and overwhelming
distress. The Greek verb translated “very heavy” can mean depressed,
dejected, and full of anguish or sorrow. Together, these words depict
a deep and extreme agony. The Savior said that His soul was
“exceedingly sorrowful unto death” (Mark 14:34)–that is, His anguish
was so intense that He felt He was at the point of death.

He was Amazed! The creator of worlds, the Son of God, the Savior was amazed, it was more than what He expected. But He took it, for you and me.

That helped me put more perspective on the whole thing, I’m grateful for the Atonement and the hope it gives us.

Elder Winkel

Off to Bernburg!

Some of the Ward

Going to miss the elders and sisters of Zwickau!