This is your son in Germany

Hey Mom!

So, as I hope you already know, I got one of the screws taken
out of my leg on Monday, and the wound got infected. They tried to
take care of it at the clinic where I was, but it was spreading too
fast so they told me I needed to go to the hospital. I got to the
hospital and I got in right away, the doctor looked at it and decided
that they needed to reopen the wound in order to clean out all of The
infection, and that they were going to operate that same day, in 2
hours. They sent me up to my room, where I waited for 10 hours instead
#IAintEvenMad.

The surgery was successful, they took the metal plate off of my leg so
that no infection could get underneath it, but also because the doctor
said that I still have good healthy bones and the break is healing
really well, so it's not super necessary. They then put a vacuum
bandage on my leg with a tube that is going to suck out all of the
rest of the infection over the next few days. After that they'll resew
the wound and I should be able to leave. The doctor said I'll probably
have to stay here for 8-10 days, which is really bad because we have a
baptism tomorrow and Sebastian asked me to baptize him, and now I
won't even be able to be there. I'm trying to stay happy with just
knowing that he's getting baptized, but it's hard. We're both pretty
upset that I won't be baptizing him. :(

Anyway, this hospital is ok, it's really hot though. I've been
sweating so much it's crazy. The nurses are also pretty nice here, and
somehow I currently have a room to myself. Didn't think that was
possible in Germany

When you want to talk you can call president Fingerle and he'll set up
a three way call between us.

Also, I'm writing with Elder Day's iPad because yesterday the nurse
told me not to leave anything valuable in my room while I was gone, so
my comp took it with him, and then they forgot to bring it back... I
really hope they bring it back tomorrow because I need to skype in to
this baptism!

Well, I love you, I'm still doing alright. The APs are about to leave
so if you want to respond just send it to my email and I'll read it
tomorrow.

It's time to start walking again! Jawohl! Endlich kommt sie raus!

Hey hey hey hey!

 I'm excited, super excited! Do you want to know why?
It's because 6 weeks have gone by since I broke my ankle, which means
it's time to start walking again! Jawohl! I have an appointment with
the doctor on Monday, where they're going to the pin out of my leg,
and then I'll be able to start walking again! These past few weeks
have been really hard, but I've come to realize that the more trials
we have, the more we come to appreciate all of the small, little
blessings that we have in our lives. For example, the blessing it is
to have a healthy, working body, with two healthy, strong legs haha,
I've really come to see the blessing there.

But on a serious note, the Lord truly has blessed me in so many ways
during these past few weeks. He has been by my side, sent his angels
to comfort and support me, and has blessed me with the opportunity to
meet wonderful people, like our friend Sebastian, who will be getting
baptized on the 24th of July! Woohoo! He is such a stud, I love him so
much!

This week things finally calmed down a bit, and we were able to do
some good work in the office. Nothing super exciting, but we've stayed
pretty busy. I'm starting to like being in the office, at first I was
super worried that I wouldn't be able to do as much good here as I
could out in the field, but I've realized that the work we do in the
office has the same purpose, "to invite others to come unto Christ, by
helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ
and his atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy
Ghost, and enduring to the end."

In my personal study I've been trying to learn more about diligence in
the Lords work. Diligence is a very important part of missionary work,
it's one of the legs that the Lords work stands on, and when we aren't
diligent in our work, nothing gets done. I think that almost everyone
who goes on a mission wants to be a good, hard working missionary. No
one comes on a mission to just sit around and be lazy, we come here to
bring others to Christ. But often times this drive starts to diminish.
We start to justify sleeping in a few extra minutes, or not going out
to work on time. Satan comes in and tries to convince us that being
diligent isn't important, and sometimes we believe his lies and give
in to that natural man. This isn't ok, those lies are still lies! It
is important to the Lord that we work hard, and that we continue to
strive to do all that we can to serve him and to be diligent workers.
If we look in the scriptures, we notice that nothing comes easy from
the Lord. All of the prophets didn't receive the testimonies they had,
or convert the thousands that they converted because God loved them
more, or because it was a different time, these miracles were
performed after these prophets gave themselves to much fasting and
prayer, in order to know God. Enos describes his process as being a
wrestle, Alma as well. It's not easy to be diligent, it really is a
sacrifice, but "sacrifice is giving up something good, for something
better."

I love you! I hope you have a great week!

LG Elder Oliphant

Elder Oliphant, his trainee Elder Teuscher and Elder Adams

He's not the only missionary in a wheelchair

Freiberg Temple

Elder Nearon

More Office Lyfe`

Berlin Tempelhof Airport, home of the Candy Bomber 

Sorry that my emails have been kind of lame recently. There is just nothing exciting that goes on in the office. And almost our whole district got sick last week (myself included), so we were stuck in the apartment. And let me tell you, a nasty sinus infection mixed with a broken ankle makes you about as useful as a sack of potatoes... I did get a new temple recommend though, that was good! 

Also, we got transfer calls! I'm going to officially be a real office elder, which means I'll stay here even after I get my cast off. My companion will be elder Jordan Anderson, I'll be living with the APs, elder Day and elder Nearon. I'll also get to go down to FREIBERG next week to help with the new missionaries! Woohoo! So next week I should have a much better email :)

Love you mom!

LG Elder Oliphant 

Elder Gibbs wanted to sign his cast but signed his foot instead

Doner!

Mom comment-I hate this haircut

Sick missionary 

June 25

Hello Hello!

Well, I had another week in the office. It's going ok, I guess. I get kind of bored sometimes, but I'm still doing good. It´s funny, since the beginning of my mission I had the feeling that I would be an office elder at some point. I didn't think that I'd have to break my leg to get there but, hey, God works in mysterious ways.

There´s really not a whole lot to talk about. I´ve been technically in a trio companionship for the last week with Elder SIlver and Elder Çakir(pronounced checker. He´s turkish). I'm in a trio with them because I live in their apartment, but they're the turkish speaking program in Berlin, and they're always gone, and I'm in the office with the office elders. Then when they have to leave I have to come with. Sometimes I feel like a big ole sack of potatoes. So for the past week it's been like I've had 4 different companions. But that's about to change because Elder Garner, my companion from the beginning of the transfer, is coming back today! He was down in a different area for a while because there was another missionary in the hospital and his companion needed someone to stay with him. I'll be glad to have a real companion again.

The highlight of this week was on tuesday when I got to attend a zone training meeting in Berlin for the Neubrandenburg Zone. Elder Bennett, my old Erfurt homie, is the ZL up there now, and he and his companion did a great job. It was also nice to talk to Elder Bennett again. He's been a good friend. 

I'm sorry, I'd love to write a nice long letter, but I have no idea what to write about. My ankle is still healing, and I'm still trying to stay strong! Being in the office, you hear about all the problems in the mission, and it's kind of hard sometimes to not get super cynical...

Well, sorry for this awful email. I'll try and do better next week.

Love You!

LG Elder Oliphant