It´s been getting pretty cold here, but it´s warmed up a bit a few times. Most days recently when I go out I wear a light coat and usually end up taking it off and putting it back on a couple times - so it´s been chilly, but nothing super cold for the most part. It´s a gorgeous fall though - you would be super jealous - All the trees are turning colours, and it´s amazing. Due to the nature of our area, that is, having a whole bunch of small cities spread out in a large geographical area, that means we end up driving through the foresty areas a lot. Of course it also means we´ve got the Zone Leaders breathing down our necks alot about kilometers. And we end up taking more scenic countryside routes because while they take longer,they´re physically shorter. So it´s beneficial in some ways.
I very much enjoyed your little story of seeing Carly, Emily and Martha. I´m glad you recognized Carly, and I hope they enjoyed the Play.
Umm... I don´t really know what I want for Christmas... My socks are doing just fine, though I do love ties - I don´t need any more but would gladly accept some - while you´re at it, you could send me all of the ties I left sitting around my room. I would enjoy having more of a variety. Of course, I can probably get new ties cheaper here - there are 3 € Ties at C&A pretty often.. So basically, I don´t know. I certainly wouldn´t mind a couple american candies. Like smarties... or sweettarts. Of course, that has much more to do with my current cravings than anything I actually need. I haven´t seen any candies like that here, but I also haven´t looked. I also wouldn´t mind some peanut butter, but that´s actually not very hard to find here, so if I ever decide I need some, it´s not a big deal... So basically, send me whatever you feel like. One thing I sort of want are German books.. like Literature and Fairy tale books and stuff. But President´s statement about books at Zone Conference made him sound far less liberal than certain other missionaries have made out... But those would obviously be better to buy here anyway. I have been considering buying some and shipping them straight home. Mmmmk... I´m just rambling now.
Hmm... let´s see... what have I been up to this week?
Wednesday was Zone Conference, which was really nice. It´s kind of a day when you get to relax, but at the same time are getting excited about the work and it´s a great platform to take off from. President encouraged us to be terrible missionaries (see D&C 105:31,5:14) He talked about our church becoming as clear as the sun, coming out of obscurity, and really being well known here. It´ll be marvelous to have less people mistake us for Zeugen Jehovas. One thing the Assistants revealed was a new fancy stand thing for Ausstellungs (Street booth type deelios) that Sis. Pimentel put together. We´re getting pretty excited about the idea of doing Ausstellungs. (Maybe in part because It´s much easier for me to talk to people when they come to me) Elder Ririe and I had already been talking about doing them - I don´t know how wide spread they have been throughout the mission, but in this gemeinde they apparently used to do them all the time, but they sort of died out a while ago. Each zone has been given a stand to rotate between whoever needs it, but Elder Thom´s already asked about getting one just for our branch. I´m excited for this new (at least to me) approach to missionary work. I know that I´ve noticed in myself much more motivation as we´ve kept ourselves busy with more diversified types of work. Like that one day last week (or the week before, or however one refers to that one week that I already wrote about) when we spent the whole day doing street contacting and doors and I was about ready to staple my head to a wall... Even in that situation though I need to just have a better attitude. This week I felt like I was doing a lot more good, we were really keeping ourselves busy with visiting members, doing service, Zone Conference, and the like. Though it was a bad week for finding, something we really need to work on this week, I felt much better this week, like I was busy, like I was actually making progress. So I really want to keep that up, but slip in a few more hours of finding time in between. I feel like I´m kind of just talking to myself, but hope it also makes a semblance of sense to the rest of the world.
Another fun thing is on the train from Zone conference we decided to have a Tausch with Osnabrück - so Elder Bossart came with me back to Rheine, and Elder Ririe stayed there with Elder Crowther. It was a lot of fun. Unfortunately our appointment in the morning fell out, but later we had English class with the Blanken kids, a tiny bit of time for street contacting, and a short appointment with M from Venezuela, to which we brought a member from Nicaragua - they seemed to get along quite well - then we went to Osnabrück to tausch back. Oh man - and I had to drive that day because Elder Bossart hasn´t gotten his German license yet, but you can drive with an American one for your first 6 months there. Let me tell ya, I haven´t gotten any better in the last several months of not touching a steering wheel. And the streets and drivers here are ridiculous. But I survived! Though I did drive a lot more timidly and slowly than would´ve been best.
And On Saturday morning we helped the Blankens put gravel into their yard - it was a lot of fun, it also felt really great and rewarding to do some manual labor service. I´m super sore from it right now. It made Morgen sport this morning just that much more difficult - but that much better too.
So yeah, things are going beautifully out here. What I don´t believe is that it´s the last week of the transfer. So we´ll see on Saturday who´s going where and if anything will change around here.
I know that whatever does happen will be for the best, and will be for our prophet and learning. At the very least it will be character building ;P I know this work is guided buy the Lord and I know it will keep marching forward regardless of how much I slack off, so why try, right? Nah, I´m just Joshin´ya. Though that is true, it´s something that rather excites me to want to be part of it. To be a more involved part of it and to really help the Lord´s work move forward. I know he´s got a plan of how I can contribute to the Kingdom, so long as I am willing to do it. It is marvelous to know that I am in such a position to move it forward, and I pray to live up to that calling. I know this church is true, and I know God loves his children.
Love you! Keep up the amazingness!
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