Germany Week 66

Dearest Mommypoo - I bet my polling station is way shadier than yours will be. I just gave my ballot to the internetladen guy to scan for me. But I've got to look at and email the digital copy anyway, so it's not like he could get away with any tampering or anything, but I still feel kinda weird about it. Mission accomplished. I hope I don't prove responsible for the destruction of the world. The ward sounds like it continues to be quite the party. 
  Mmky dokey... what have I been up to this week...
We spent practically the whole week playing with our GML. We'd gone to their house last Sunday after church, then again Monday night, and that's just the beginning of the week.
  Wednesday was actually quite the adventure. It started out with District meeting, which is usually just the two of us and the two Elders from Lauenburg. But this week we had some pretty lofty visitors. The Zone Leaders wanted to visit our District meeting, and they were also meeting up with the Assistants for to do a Tausch of their own, so all four of them came to our District Meeting. So our numbers were doubled, with half of them being the overlords of the mission. It was pretty crazy. It was actually really good though, I love both of the APs. Elder Fullmer's from my group and it was great to see him - I hadn't seen him since he was in Bergedorf and I was in Elmshorn. He was also really excited to visit his Golden City. (Officially speaking, the term Golden is now taboo.. but back when we were that thing and we were in that place, it was officially Golden.... I don't know if there's some sort of ex post facto rule when speaking about the past..... Aaaaannyway...) He left notes all over the place for the members to see that he'd been there. And Elder Cottrell was one of my Zone leaders in Kiel.Then I got to eat Doppelkeks leisurely during the Thema... nom nom nom... Then I went on Tausch in Lauenburg with Elder Beck. We had quite the party there. We had an appointment with this cool Muslim guy, those are always fun.
  M, our GML, invited us over for lunch on Friday, and so we went over there and we talked a lot about the goals that the Gemeinde had set the night before in Gemeinderat, and goals that he had for the work, and talked about how we'd go about doing that. Then we visited a lady in the Gemeinde, played with a shopping cart we found, and went to Spielabend (Ward game Night), where I demonstrated that I'm terrible at Ping Pong. Then we met with him again on Saturday for a quick Gemiko. 
Yesterday was nice too. Church was good.... 
Anyhoodles, have a beautiful, beautiful, life everyone!
 

Germany Week 65

Well, Well, well, More actually happened this week than I thought, now that I'm looking back on it. 
On Tuesday, our GML randomly showed up at our apartment and chatted with us for a bit in the morning. And later in the day we went to the church to make a copy of my Monatskarte to get it refunded, but the copier was broken, but Bro. I. was there and we ended up helping him with a Broken lawnmower there. (We're weren't actually much help, and we didn't even figure out what the problem was, but I still enjoyed it) In the Evening we played a smashing game of Trivial Pursuit. mhmmm.
Wednesday we had our Zone Training meeting which was also a party. We got there a little bit earlyish and helped President Kosak carry in the post and books and whatnot. Then we had a nice chat with him for a few minutes, he talked with us about the "Training Model" - Explain, Demonstrate, Practice, Evaluate, Repractice. He also gave me a big side hug and asked me how much longer I had, then said, "Oh good. I've still got you for a long while." It felt good... I've started to feel like I'm on my way out... Does that make sense? Not like Trunkiness, exaclty, just like I'm running out of time. It's probably a combination of Elder Pack being comparitively so young and fresh and the flies that are already circling over Elder Robinson in anticipation. I don't even know what I'm talking about now. But It was a nice reminder that I've still got time (Though I know it'll go quickly) and that I can still do a lot in that time. That night we visited the Zs again, I really like that family. It's just funny how the son speaks german and the parents speak English, so we teach him in German, translate for his mom in English, and read the scriptures in Spanish.
  Thursday we had a joint teach with the J Family. Their neighbors are some ward members, and they set it up for us. The father of the family has apparently been taking the lessons a lot, but his wife and kids don't usually participate. This time they all came and listened too. It was just cool to have a real live, "I'm teaching a family of investigators and there are Joint Teaches present" lesson. I'm pretty sure that's the only time that's ever happened to me. I don't think I've ever taught a full family period. That's definitely the ideal though - the fact that it was set up by the joint teaches definitely has a lot to do with that. They were really cool people too. I'm excited to teach them further.
  Friday Evening we visited a recent convert who's super cool, and Saturday we went to a park to play soccer with people from the Gemeinde. No one from the Gemeinde was there, but this cool kid, N, who apparently plays with us a lot was there, and we ended up playing with this other group of kids too. I was about to say it was fun, but then I remembered that I really didn't enjoy it. Man, I hate sports. ;P I'm definitely glad we did it though. 
  Then yesterday I had normal church for the first time since being here. It was cool to get to meet the rest of the Gemeinde. They're Sundayschool class was crazy - The teacher would just ask questions and moderate through quick comments... A lot more participation than I'm used to... Then After church we went to our GML's house for lunch, and had a fun afternoon with him and his family. He's so funny, and his kids are adorable.
  I feel like I've been boring this time. Hopefully not. But if so, it stinks to be you! hehehe.
  Well, Kids, I love your guts, and I wish you a Merry Christmas and a happy new year. And Halloween. And Mayday. Ok. ok. I'm done. The Church is True! Jesus Said love Everyone! Treat them kindly too! When your heart is filled with with Joy, others will love you! Ok, this time I'm done for reals. Have a great Week! Love ya!

Germany Week 64

My Oh My is that crazy that the ward got all switchamarooed. And that's also super intese about Uncle Andy. He's famous! I didn't know anything about any assassinations. I don't know much of anything that goes on in the world. Mom, you're right that I just have an apartment in a bigger building. That's how it always is in Germany. Well, some people have houses, but there's a lot more apartment living going on here than at home. In Germany they don't have apartment numbers, they just have mailboxes that you put your name on. I really love the city. Elder Baake taught me to love Hamburg. And it's just so lovable anyway. There's something about the air quality. And it's just so beautiful. I'm super excited about being in Bergedorf, which is officially a part of Hamburg. It's definitely much larger than Nienburg. 

  My new companion, Elder Robinson, is really cool. It's definitely very different to be back with someone older than me. I got used to just deciding stuff... Not that I was a big fan of it... but now I find myself getting all caught up in what I should do and what I should leave for him to do. It's really silly, and I imagine it would be best to just be decisive... I'm sure he's ok either way. He's a really chill guy. I'm blabbering to you just like I do in my mind.
  Umm.... yeppers. So as I walk along I typically say "Hallo" or "Moin" or whatever to the people I pass. And everywhere else I've been, people have always responded, even if it's with a, "man I wish you hadn't noticed me" look. I got here, and I thought to myself, "I'm back in the Hamburg area. I'm gonna be getting some Moin Moins. woo hoo!" So I started out saying Moin to everybody. And nobody said anything back. It got to be pretty fun. I was just ruthlessly moining these people, and they just speed up and look forward. On Saturday, on the way to see the Prophet, I caught a post delivery lady off guard, she looked up at me and let out an almost inaudible "moin." But it was there! I felt so victorious. bwahaha. Since then I've got a couple back, but overall these people must not be into the whole greeting thing.
  And President Monson was fantastic. He's so adorable. He pretty much said he just felt like visiting Germany again. The German people really love him, and he really loves them. President Texiera said a similar sentence to the one I just did in his Introduction, and President Monson pumped his fist high in the air as he said, "and I know President Monson loves the German People." It was pretty cute. He talked to us about Choices, how they shape our destinies, and that we can make four specific choices: to listen, to learn, to labor, and to love. And that our resolutions can become realities as we let Christ in and act. It was really good. It was so cool to see him there. As I've said to many of the members, "I live in the same city as him, but I had to come to Germany to see him!"
  It was also great to see so many people I know. Missionaries from all over this half of the mission, as well as a few I knew from the MTC who are serving in the Dortmund Zone of the Frankfurt mission. In addition to that, there were people from every Gemeinde I've ever served in there, since I've never made it out of the West. It was wonderful to see many of them. It would've been wonderful to spend more time with everyone, but the quick hellos were still fantastic. It also would've been wonderful to go shake the prophet's hand, but that obviously wasn't going to happen. Many people did though, As he was leaving he went over to some of the people, and a huge mass made their way over to him. I couldn't see what was going on, but I imagine there were many who were able to shake his hand.
  Umm... I sang in the Stake Choir Yesterday. That was quite the party. We sang this one song called "Gesang der erlösten" (Singing of the Redeemed), which was a whole ton of fun. Elder Koppe said it was weird though. He's back from the dead - but not for long. Anyhoodles, Stake Conference was also really good. Their focus was on obedience, and they had a lot of really cool talks. It's kind of funny, because the last couple of weekends have been super hardcore spiritual experiences, but It feels like I haven't had the sacrament in an eternity. I'm pretty excited for that next week.
  In other news, we visited these people who are definitely hobbits. We get to eat with them once a week. Hobbits make good food.
  Well, I can't think of anything else exciting.... So have a beautiful week!

Germany Week 63

Well Kids, this week was quite the whirlwind adventure. I can't really remember anything from before Saturday though, so I'll have to make it up. Jk. I can consult my notes (As taken by my temporary secretary, Elder Pack).

 My first notable, or rather, noted, event occured On Tuesday the Third of October, also known as the birthday of everyone and their dog, The Day Gandalf fought Ringwraiths on Weathertop, and der Tag der Deutschen Einheit, among other things. I decided it was time to buy our 344€ Monatskarten (That's for both of us, but it's still a way expensive one, but it works out to be cheaper than our other options). Due, However, to the last of the mentioned identities of the day, the Reisebüro (travel office) wherein such a monthly pass might be obtained, was closed. Now. At this point, an old curiousity of mine began to creep its way into the forefront of my consciousness. I understood that even ridiculously expensive Monatskarten can be purchased through the Automats.... And I'd been wondering how that would differ from the Reisebüro experience. So I decided to try it. But the automat wouldn't accept my card. It would only accept giro/EC/cash cards, and no one even knows what those are anyway. So, defeated, I began to walk away. I then had an Idea which led to a flashback. Wsehsehsihfes (that's the sound that comes as the screen goes blurry and we find ourselves in flashback mode)  - I'm much younger. Like 12. or 15. Or 5. or something. We're switching our bank accounts from Bankone to the Beehive credit union for some reason that adults understand and I didn't. But in order to do that, we took out all of our money in cash. So Joseypookins and I are sitting in the car counting our Benjamins as we drive to Beehive - Cool Conference Talk, na? C L really liked it - Anyhoodles. wooooossssccchoooop! Flashback over. I turned my head to see a certain Geldautomat on the other wall. Or for our american speaking friends, the ATM Machine. And yes, I do mean the Automated Teller ATM Machine. I'm snarky like that cuz I was in the ELP Program.... Ok, Don't you just love it when I'm in these moods, dear readers? I imagine you can't really tell what I'm saying, but that it's much more entertaining. The real tragedy is that I'm nearing the end of my email time and I'ven't even finished my first, and actually rather insignificant story. Schade, schade, schade. So I went to the Geldautomat and I pulled out 350 €. It was pretty intense. Everything is going hunkily dorily as I feed my 50 Euroscheins to the DBAutomat beast. Only then a tragic thing happened. As I only owed 4 more Euro, and started to put a 5 Euro bill in, Elder Pack said to me, "You've got to pay with Coins. It won't accept any more bills." I looked at the screen in horror to find he is correct. WWWSChesfuhsewww I'm in the Kiel Hauptbahnhof, currently serving in Flensburg. My companion was just in a District leader training, and I had been with another junior companion. But now we're ready to go home, and Elder Evans runs up to us, explaining that they'd tried to pay an automat with cash, but that they didn't have enough, the automat timed out on them, gave them around 20 euro of their money back in coins, and the rest was just gone. I was then able to pay for their ticket home, and we all go on our way. WWWOooshhhhoop! Ach Mensch! I couldn't let that happen to us. Elder Evans had gotten his money back, but only after obnoxious paper work and like a month. I desperately clawed through my change, cramming in as much as I could as fast as I could. But it was clear that we were coming up short. We were stopped dead at 60 cents. I looked with wide eyes at Elder Pack. Then I heard the clinking of change in the Automat next to me. I turned to the man there, and I'm not sure how frantically asked, "Do you have change?" He said something along the lines of, "only a little.." I asked, "How much have you got?" "Just 90 cents...." I handed him my 5 and said, "That's worth it to me." I slapped in sixty of those cents and breathed a sigh of relief. I learned two lessons from that story. 1. Always Buy Monatskarten from the Reisebüro. 2.Manage my email time better.

    But wait, there's more! I know, that's crazy enough for a whole week, but there's even more that I'll be able to report. One of those things is that when Elder Pack and I were doing doors in Neustadt, this lady opened the door and said, "I have two really good reasons why I don't have time right now. My son has a Latin Test tomorrow, so we're studying Vocabulary, and we're strong, active Catholics, so you won't get anywhere. But come in, I've got something for you." Then She gave us yummy candy and chatted with us for a few minutes. She said she was really sorry that she didn't have time, and that we should come back another day. I love wandering into awesome people.

  Skip forward to the most exciting stuff. So Saturday Morning we Went to Hannover for a distrikt breakfast/gemeinsames Transfer call listening experience. The Mission had a lot of changes. Half of our district is leaving, I among them. I'll be going up to Bergedorf in Hamburg, Address: 

Brookstraße 19

21029 Hamburg

Where I will serve with Elder Robinson, who has two transfers left (I get to be Junior Companion again! jk, I'mma try not to be a senior companion gone once again fisherman). I've met him a couple times, and heard a lot of good things about him. I'm pretty excited. Elder Pack on the Other hand, will be getting a companion who is only one transfer older than him, who he knows from the MTC. Crazy, crazy, crazy. They'll do great, and it will be a wonderful opportunity for him to learn and grow by figuring things out himself. I wish I would've taught him more and better though. Two other missionaries from Elder Pack's group are training. It's so exciting.

   Then an even bigger (Ok, much, much bigger) change in Missionary work was announced by President Monson in General Conference. We, much like everyone else were totally geeking out about President Monson's announcements that missionaries will now be able to serve at 18. And the rest of conference was so wonderful too. I've always loved conference, and this one really spoke to me that I need to get my act together in a lot of things. The whole conference had an interesting tone though. I felt that from President Monson's first words as he talked about the empty seats in the back of the conference center. This Conference seemed to me to be much more sober, almost grim. I felt like we're really buckling down to resist the moral decline of the culture around us. I kept thinking of the feel of the last few Harry Potters, as Voldemort is moving openly, and those fighting for good have to make a show of pure grit. It's kind of a silly comparison, but a very similar feeling. 

   One other very cool thing was that on the way to conference, A man on the train invited us to sit with him and we had a great conversation with him. He told us about his incredible story of repentance and becoming a Christian. We invited him to come to one of the sessions of conference. I didn't find him if he did make an appearance, but he gave us permission to pass his number onto the Elders from where he lives. It was really cool.

  Well, I've unfortunately gone ridiculously overtime, but I want you to know that I love you and that I love this gospel. Have a fantastic week!

Germany Week 62--Klingelingelingeling

Here, have some pictures.

1 - me

              2 - Cave of Wonders (completed Edition)

Soo...

One exciting story from the week...

Tuesday night, somebody klingeled us. She was all like, "Are you the guys from the Church?" I'm like, "yeah, that's us!" She said, "I visited your church one time. And I got baptized. But now I have a friend that wants to meet with you." So we sent up an appointment to meet with the two of them. Then two days later we klingeled, and nobody answered. But then that night, she kilgeled us again. And said, "sorry, I had to work late, but do you still have time today?" It was 8:20, so we did, so we were like, yeah, just a minute, we'll come down. She said, I've gotta go take my dog back but klingel me, and I'll come down and we can go to the church together." So, 10 minutes later we were at her apartment. Just when we were about to go ring the doorbell (aka klingel) A car pulled up and a few people stepped out and klingeled someone else. But then they didn't answer, so those people stayed on the porch and called them and everything. I was like, Okey dokey, we'll just stand here and wait. But then it took forever. So we decided to walk around the block. But then they were still there. Then I felt like an idiot, because we'd just been there, but I walked up, said excuse me, and klingeled. And nobody answered. And then so the five of us were just sitting there waiting awkwardly. Finally, we walked away, tried again a few minutes later, then started heading home. Then we heard someone call out, "Elders!" so we went back. But there was noone there. We had been duped. The part I left out earlier was that we'd already heard stories about this girl playing dumb pranks, but she hadn't been up to them for a year or too. So we kinda suspected this whole time... It was amusing though.

  Yesterday, Fast and Testimony meeting was good. And then we had gemeindeessen, which was fantastic. And I learned some more Swahili. The church is true. Have a great week! Love ya!