So the subject line would've been my facebook status if I were still into that sort of thing.
I would now like to wish everyone a Happy October 3rd. That includes Happy Birthday to Rodrigo Dutra (even though I haven't seen him since like the 6th Grade), Chelsea Jones, her Grandpa, and I feel like I'm forgetting someone else - please don't hate me. I would also like to wish Gandalf a happy anniversary of fighting Wringwraiths atop Weathertop. Last but not least, happy Tag der Deutschen Einheit!
This was a super exciting week here.
On monday after emails we went to Hamburg, climbed the Michealis, a church there, from which you have a great view of the city. Then I wandered around with Elder Fullmer, which was a blast. I was totally going to send pictures, but I would seem to've left my camera zu Hause. Monday also marked the day of having been two months in Germany, matching my two months in the MTC, and meaning I'm already through 4 months of my mission. I am definitely not a good enough missionary yet to merit being 1/6 of the way done. I'm not any better than the day I got here! I hope that's not true, but it's often hard to tell.
Tuesday pretty much all of our appointments fell out, but we ended up having a blast with UN, a member who we went jogging with in the morning, then he came and replaced our sink, we had lunch and breakfast with him, then when another appointment fell out we ended up going to his house to help him get an old piece of wood out of an anchory type thingy for his fence (I feel like that was a terrible description, but that a more thorough one would be a terrible waste of time) Anyway, that was a lot of fun, and I think he's a really witty guy, though I can never be sure, because he talks way too fast for me to understand a word he says.
That evening we had an appointment with A, which I was pretty excited but nervous for, just because I really enjoy talking with him, and I really want to help him find the truth, but we seem to be making little progress. And he never showed up - which was very unlike him - there've been plenty of times when he hasn't been able to come, but'd always text or call us. And he didn't answer the phone either. So I was worried he'd just decided to tchuss us. But we ran into him at the train station on the way to the Saturday Morning Session of Conference (Broadcast LIVE Saturday evening - I thought that was cool) and made an appointment with him. Turns out he'd been in the hospital because he'd taken to much of a protein powder type thing. So be careful to take a healthy amount, kids....
Any hoodles,... where was I? On Wednesday, I along with a few others gave a Thema (A talk/lesson thingy) on Teaching which I definitely had to prepare on the train on the way there. I did it specifically on Asking questions, and did it by asking lots of really dumb questions, doing exactly what preach my gospel warns against, then read the section in preach my gospel and we discussed how terrible I had been and the importance of good questions. I thought it was pretty witty, but everyone else was really confused at first :P
C has been making wonderful progress, we met with him a couple times in the week, and he's excited for his baptism and to learn more. He came to one of the sessions of General Conferenz and really enjoyed it.
Umm... is there anything else exciting before I jump to the really exciting stuff?
So Saturday morning we had transfer call, which I was anticipating anxiously. I wanted things to stay the same again, but felt that they definitely wouldn't, and though I knew that whatever happened, it would be for the best, I was still really nervous about it for several days leading up to it. We went to Glückstadt to listen to the call as a district, and Elder Redd and I made breakfast, it was delightsome (Though his moonkeybreadlike "Conference Cake" was tragically only done right as I had to leave...). President announced Glückstadt before us, and Elder Turney is taking Elder Popps place - The wave of excitement at the prospect of sharing a district with him quickly broke over the following announcement that Elder Baake would be remaining in Elmshorn and receive a German Co senior companion, Elder Rimmel. I'm sure that's for the best though - I'll definitely miss Elder Baake and I'll definitely miss Elmshorn, with its amazing members and the eating appointment list flowing with milk and honey. And I'll most certainly miss some of our investigators. I think that Papi and his new companion will be quite the powerhouse, and he has a great relationship with the people there that I'm quite sure I couldn't maintain with my whole not talking very much thing.... A while later, we discovered that I will be going to Bad Bentheim, right near the border of the Netherlands.
View Larger Map My companion will be Elder Rirey, who I'm told is super cool. It is a car area, so I'll probably get fatter, even without all the eating appointments. President later told me he thought it was good/funny/something positive anyway... that the Lord had sent me to the opposite side of the mission from Berlin, where he discovered I have a brother that I kept forgetting to tell him about... Anyhoodles, I'm excited to go to Bad Bentheim, and have an exciting new start, even if I somehow have to get my broken wheeled luggage there somehow (Have I told you about that? I have the feeling we don't have any sort of warranty on them, but if we happen to, it would be exciting to get a replacement or something....). blah de blah de blah.
Then of course was General conference, which was, as always, marvelous. It seemed a little bit different to me this time, maybe just because I was watching it in a German church building in a suit rather than on the floor in my pajamas... also the fact that it was night, rather than morning (Though on Sunday the schedule was quite similar, only with Sessions switched around) It was also weird that Bruder M was able to tell us who was speaking in the Priesthood and Saturday afternoon sessions before we watched them. Anyway, I'm indulging in digression. ;P Despite the slightly different atmosphere in which I watched conference, it was just as good as ever, just as true as ever. just as fantastic as ever. I love hearing from Modern Day Prophets and Apostles, and I love the desire it helps to give me to start fresh, to work anew, and recommit myself to the work of God in which I'm engaged. I know this is his church. I know the messages that his servants shared in the last couple days, even the inconvenient ones, are what we need to act upon and follow. I know the lord loves us and leads us. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
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