Jacobs Mission nach Deutschland: Germany Week 27

So let's see, what've I been up to this week?

The rest of Monday in Minden was a lot of fun. It was great to see other missionaries, we had a lot of fun playing Werewolf, Foosball, Tischtennis, and other stuff. It was nice. But then we were dumb, and the train and bus connections were dreadful, and we got back pretty late.

Tuesday - We went and did doors with PA in the evening. He had this salesy approach he wanted to try with us, where we do a super quick survey thing, and then tell them they've qualified for a Book of Mormon, and give them one before they have a chance to think about it and tell them we'll be back in a week to talk more about it. It worked out great when he was doing the talking - the people were friendly back, we had the most friendly rejections I've ever had, and made out a couple of appointments. Once we started trying it though, it was just like it always is. We were nervous and flustered and under stress, and that was reflected in people's reaction to us. Then we went back to PA's office and chatted about what we can do to improve and everything. The biggest thing he told us was just to relax, and have a much lighter approach (as opposed to heavier). Although that's definitely easier said than done, he gave us some good pointers, and the whole experience helped me to look up and to be more optimistic and hopefull about what we can do. I don't think I'll encorporate his survey approach, but I definitely will work on having that warm, causual, friendly, not-shaking-in-my-boots attitude in the approach. Seeing him doing that definitely made it feel more within reach to do it myself.

Wednesday we had Zone Conference, which was very nice. Elder Weitzel and I gave a Thema on Using Time Wisely/Setting goals and Planning, which I could definitely use some work on. So either the Zone leaders are inspired or they've been watching us. Altogether, it was a good day. Fun times were had. The candles were lit. Just kidding. There weren't any candles. The passive voice was just being used by Elder Cloward as a means of entertainment.

Thursday didn't have too much out of the ordinary. Actually it did. You see, on Monday, while we were playing in Minden, I got a call from a man who'd gotten one of our Nicole cards in his mailbox, so I made out an appointment with him for Thursday. It was super exciting. Elder Ririe recognized his name and we realized he was a former investigator we had tried to go by on a couple times. So we were pretty excited. When we got there, he looked at me, said, "You! Get out!" We looked at him very confusedly, then he asked me, "You know why you have to get out?" When I assured him I hadn't the foggiest notion, he said it was because I'd told him He couldn't have a wife. He then invited Elder Weitzel inside. Elder Weitzel explained that we couldn't separate, so then he told us to just both come in anyway. It was a very interesting appointment. He didn't remember the Book of Mormon at all, but he whipped out his copy of "Teachings of the Prophets: Joseph Smith" and reported that he had read it 3 times when we gave him the Book of Mormon along with a pamphlet about Joseph Smith. I'm not really sure if he's got both rockers on the ground, but we're going back tomorrow, so we'll see what happens.

Friday was a bit of a disappointment when I/E didn't show up for our appointment. Hopefully she just forgot. Of course, no one's answered the phone she called us from, which is the only possibility we have of reaching her. We'll keep trying it. And at the very least, she's got a Book of Mormon and knows how to contact us.

I'm gonna break the pattern by not saying anything specific about Saturday and Sunday. Bwahahahaaaa!

Another fun tidbit though, it snowed last night for the first time since I told you it snowed for the first time. It was a pretty light snow, but it's been cold enough that a tiny bit of it is still left outside.

1.Me being awesome on a path while doing some explore to find