The "Lasts" Begin 7/14/14

Another Happy Monday Family!

They're winding down, which is way weird to me. Today we're going to go down to Karlsruhe with the district. We just wanted to get out of Mannheim for a day, haha. I think we've done everything there is to do here that's mission appropriate! So I'll take some pics and send them next week. Bucket list is going well. I should be able to get everything done that I want to. I still have enough time! I'm sad that it's so close, but I am excited to see you guys.

This week was good. One of the Elders from our district went home last Friday because his school starts a little earlier. He's been with us for a while, so it was really weird to see him go. I feel a lot better from being sick, thanks. Hopefully it doesn't happen again. My exit interview...meh. It's not like a 'pass/fail.' Basically the mission president tells you to get married, and that's what happened, lol. It wasn't special or anything.

I'm starting to have my 'lasts.' So weird! Like my last Zone Conference and my last Ward Council. This week I have my last Zone Training, and soon it'll be my last District Meeting. It's such a weird feeling! I have to actually start doing things to get ready, like sorting through my clothes. And yeah...I think I might take like two skirts home. I want to burn my wardrobe, lol. Germany is funny cuz it's a European country, so there is a lot of fashion here, but also some Germans sometimes have a weird sense of fashion. Like they loooove fanny packs for some reason. Isn't that hilarious? It's so funny to see huge strong muscle men in wife beaters with their little fanny packs. Or Germans think it's okay to wear all the same color, especially if they're different shades. Khaki and gray are some of the favorites. But one time we saw this guy with lime green shoes, dark green pants, and a green jacket. So that's just an example. So they're fashionable in some ways...but in others...yeah, they're funny. I love Germans!

Sister Lehamn will probably stay next transfer because she only has one more after I leave!! So that'll be one whole year in Mannheim for her. So crazy. But she LOVES it here, so it's okay. She really wants to stay. It would be really unusual if they put in two brand new Sisters. Probably won't happen. Kinder Eggs...haha we'll probably buy one next week (transfer calls next week!!) so we can see what's coming for Sister Lehman. I'm not sure how we'll interpret mine...We'll think about it. The soccer game was good I guess! It started at 9, and everything was really quiet for about two hours. I tried to stay up and listen, because you can tell when Germany scores/wins, but I was laying in my bed in the dark, and I was sleepy, so I fell asleep before the end of the game, lol. I guess Germany won 1-0 in double overtime with like three minutes left. It's way cool that I'm in Germany when they won the world cup! It's a huge deal for the Germans. They're way happy about that. Poor USA lost almost right off the bat, haha.

This week should be really busy. We're happy about that! On Friday it's Sister Lehman's birthday so we're having an appt. with some cool members to celebrate. I hope I can make it a good birthday for her, lol. She's way intense about birthdays. I never knew someone could love birthdays so much! haha lots of pressure. Wish me luck!

Germany is awesome and I'm so happy that I'm here!! I'm glad I still have some time left. It's awesome.

An Amazing Week! 7/6/14

It was an AWESOME week. We were way busy. But it was awesome. So Monday like I said we had a lot of appts, so we had our PDay on Tuesday. We went down to Heidelberg cuz it's more tourist-y than Mannheim. Looked at some cool stuff, got some cool stuff. Nothing too exciting, but we hung out with the district, so it was really fun. Then we had a sleepover that night at our apartment because we had another ZOKO the next day! It was really cool. The new mission president is really nice. Basically it was him introducing himself and his family, and he stated his mission goals and his vision for what he wants the mission to be. It's really cool to see. We had a mix-up afterward with some of the people in our district afterward and ended up missing a lot of trains and stuff, so we got home a lot later than we wanted to and had to cancel an appt. :( That was stinky. But oh well. At least we were together, haha.

Thursday we were really really busy again with a lot of appts. This week was seriously a miracle week. We met with so many people, and so many people are making so much progress. Friday was the FOURTH OF JULY. It was good. Our investigator Sue has this huge blueberry plantation...thing that she basically has to run alone because her husband works a lot and they can't afford help, so Friday morning we went up there to help her pick blueberries so that she would be less stressed about Saturday. So we picked blueberries all morning on Friday. It was way fun, and they were sooo delicious. But we were really hot and sticky and tired afterward. Then we tried to visit some people who weren't home, then we got everything ready for the baptism on Saturday. So Saturday we played soccer, got ready, and then went straight to the church for the BAPTISM.

Sue came and was soooo cute and so excited. She saw her baptism jumper thing and put it right on and then

looked in the mirror and everything. It was so cute! She's adorable. Then, after dragging her away from some over-excited members who wanted to talk her ear off, we sat with her alone for a couple minutes and prayed and talked about how she was feeling. She was sooo prepared you guys. Her whole family came, too, which was also a miracle because she was afraid they wouldn't want to come. Her husband and son had found a lot of anti-Mormon literature online and were really skeptical. But they came! And her daughter came, too, which was awesome. I was kinda worried because it didn't look like a lot of people were going to be there, but, true German Mormon style, everyone showed up two minutes after it started. So there was a really good turnout. A couple people from the ward who were joint-teaches with us gave a talk about Baptism, and then she was baptized!!! It was so cool. Her now-home teacher baptized her. Then there was a talk about the Holy Ghost (obviously) and a couple testimonies from some convert women in the ward, because Sue really wanted some converts to bear their testimony about how the Gospel had helped them through their rough background. She wanted it for her daughter, because her daughter has been really struggling lately. Then Sue gave this AMAZING AWESOME testimony/talk. Seriously one of the most beautiful things I've ever heard. I wish I could have a copy of it. Sister Lehman and I have been debating on whether or not we should ask her to give us a copy, lol.

But basically it was so beautiful. She kind of gave a small life story and just told everyone how everything in her life led her to find the Gospel. She got really emotional during a couple parts, and I'm pretty sure everyone else in the chapel was in tears. Sister Lehman and I were, lol. But Sue was so amazing and bore her testimony about the Gospel and Joseph Smith and Book of Mormon. And she was like, 'I can't wait for what's ahead! There's so much--family history and temple work and all these things. I just can't wait!' The Spirit was SOOO strong. Afterward she was like, 'In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen...HALLELUJAH!' It was the cutest sweetest thing ever lol! The Lord has been preparing this woman for years. She keeps talking about how the Gospel gives her the missing puzzle pieces and how everything is coming together. Every time we teach her a new concept like missionary work in the spirit world, she's always like, 'That is so COOL.' (Well, in German terms.) Sue has made my entire mission worth it. She is literally an answer to my prayers. On Sunday she was confirmed, the new Bishop gave her the Holy Ghost. It was also a really beautiful experience, and a lot of the ward members got up later and bore testimony about how touching the baptismal service was and how happy they were that Sue is a part of their ward. It was so amazing to see.

So. Yeah. It was a pretty good week, lol.

I guess that's the most exciting news from last week, haha. :) But this week is really busy, too. I have my EXIT INTERVIEW this week. That is so crazy. Sad to think that Sunday was my last Fast and Testimony meeting here. :( I forwarded my final flight plans because they still haven't fixed your email address. I emailed them once again and told them it was different. Also I'm sick again this week. That's stinky. Nothing too bad, but it's annoying. I remember my trainer was way sick pretty much our entire first transfer together. Sister Lehman keeps saying that my body is breaking down, haha. And just so you know, no, I don't feel trunky really. I don't know what to feel. Honestly most of the time I really feel as if I'm in the middle of my mission. It's only when I get emails about my plane ticket or get told my exit interview is this week that I remember that I really am at the end of my mission. 

Happy Birthday America! 6/30/14

Happy Fourth of July!! When you get there, I mean.

But things this last week were really great. I'll just go day-by-day I guess. I think the closer I am to the end the more boring I feel in my emails. So sorry if they get less exciting the closer it gets. If it's possible for them to get less exciting, lol. I feel way boring whenever I email you guys. But I really love getting updates from you though!! So anyway.

The bike ride was really fun! We rode a lot and I got a comfy bike this time so my booty wasn't sore beyond measure the next day. I was just soooo exhausted afterward. We rode around a forest and there were these like little animal exhibit things and stuff. And a bird park, which was cool. After PDay we went to a members house, and she fed us delicious Turkish food. Sooo good. Tuesday we had investigator appts. Wednesday we randomly got to go on a split with the other Sisters in our district! They have been companions for five transfers as well, so we've all been in the same district for that long. I got to go to Speyer and have an exciting day there which included getting lost for almost two hours and teaching in weird places and then being locked out of our apartment because the other Sisters had the key and weren't answering their phone. But it was good anyway. Thursday was ZOKOOOOO! It was so fun and so sad. We were a little late getting there...oops. But that was the train they told us to take, so it's not as if we were lollygagging or anything. But ZoKo was so good. And so sad. :( Goodbye President Schwartz. It's a bummer I won't have my exit interview with him, but naja. It's okay. I heard the new mission president is really nice. We actually have a ZoKo with him this Wednesday!! So that's exciting. We get to go back to Offenbach!! Woooo! But ZoKo last week was good too cuz I got to see a lot of people I haven't seen in such a long time. Plus I realized that I didn't know a ton of people there because they were all new Goldens. It's weird how you can see the shift. Most of the missionaries I know are dead. Okay not most of them...but a really big chunk have passed on to the other side. So it's weird to see. Also we got to see the Deutschland gegen USA soccer match on Thursday night. Zzzzz...really boring game. I mean I'm not a huge soccer person, but I was expecting more action than THAT. But it's okay--even Sister Lehman was way bored and said the teams were playing really sloppily and slowly. USA lost 0-1, but we still get to advance out of the first round. We'll see how far they make it. Friday was appts and a Relief Society activity. That was fun. Saturday we played soccer and visited some more people, haha. Then Sunday was really good and we had a good time at church with everyone. I'm gonna miss the members so much! I love them.

We're splitting up our PDay today because of times of things, so tomorrow will be the rest of our  PDay. I think we'll buy souvenirs then, so just fyi. I'm not sure exactly what we're doing. Hopefully strawberry hunting. :) It looks way fun. If there's one thing Germany loves, it's strawberries. Also asparagus?? They have this weird obsession with white asparagus, lol. Also as far as the baptism, we pushed it to this week because of scheduling conflicts, and this week works better for pretty much everyone. But we met with her this morning, and she's doing SO solid and is so prepared. She is soooo cool. I love this woman. She's going to be just fine. And she wants to get to the Temple asap. That's so cool. Today during the lesson it was basically her just bearing testimony, lol.

I don't have too much time left here in Germany, so I'm trying to suck it all in. It's been awesome. I'm so happy for July. It's going to be an awesome month!  I think we'll just try to eat hamburgers somewhere or something. Last year I got to go back to Frankfurt on a split and eat delicious hamburgers. It was way fun. And I wore red, white, and blue, and that will definitely be worn on Friday as well. 

Some Bucket List Items 6/23/14

Things have been going well. One of our investigators left on a trip to the US a week or two ago, and she comes back tomorrow or the next day, so we're waaaay stoked to see her. She's sooo cute. Things are progressing well the other one. Pray that everything will turn out well. Sister Lehman got a ball in the face at soccer the other day, lol. But she's fine--just a pounding headache for a day or two. She played soccer a lot before the mission too, though, so she knows how to be a trooper about it. Also we got to go back to HANAU on Sunday. That was so crazy and fun. It takes only about an hour or so to drive there, so we got a ride from a member. So weird to see the city again. Also I got to see some people from the other wards I was in. It was really fun. We enjoyed ourselves. ALSO they made another STAKE! That was an amazing miracle. The prophecies about Germany are being fulfilled! They split up the Heidelberg and Frankfurt stakes and created a stake called the Friedrichsdorf Stake, which is waaay cool because Friedrichsdorf is where the temple is. But seriously. Lord is hastening His work or something...

ZOKO on Thursdaaay! Exciting but sad. I'm going to miss President Schwartz. He's so cool. Also ZoKo is in Offenbach this time. Lol I'll have to tell you guys about Offenbach someday. There are a lot of things I'll have to tell you about. But anyway, we're stoked for Thursday. Everything should be awesome this week! Today we're planning on going on a bike ride with a member. Some things on my bucket list...I'll hopefully see another castle, and I want to go pick strawberries. That's a big thing here--you just go to a field and fill a big basket of strawberries. I've always wanted to do that. Plus I want to eat chocolate spaghetti ice cream. It's like a German special. Well, spaghetti ice, I mean. I just want the chocolate kind, haha. But there are plenty of things to do and hopefully enough time to do it all! Also we got permission to watch one World Cup game! That was cool. The soccer World Cup is going on right now in Brazil, and Germans LOVE soccer. I have never seen so much German pride than in the last week. I think it was last Monday...yeah they played Portugal and destroyed them 4-0. You seriously would have thought that Germany had won a war. There were flags EVERYWHERE and people singing in the streets and cars covered in German flags racing around town honking and it was waaay crazy. But we're probably going to watch the Germany vs. USA game this week. Sis. Lehman is way stoked. She loves the world cup. We're probably going to watch it with one of our investigators. 

Another Miracle! 6/16/14

Things are still going really well here! Sue  is progressing really well and everything is still looking good. We all had lunch with the Bishop after church on Sunday, and I think she enjoyed herself. We're also doing a Relief Society Temple trip on the fifth of July, and she really wants to come to that as well!! So things are going good.

Also SURPRISE! Can you believe it?? Sister Lehman and I are staying TOGETHER. I've never ever ever heard of that happening. FIVE transfer companions! So crazy. We were sure she was gone. But we're waaaaay excited. I'm really excited she's my last companion. It's going to be a way awesome last transfer. We're going to make it really awesome.

This week we're going to Felsenmeer again for PDay. It was reaaaalllly fun the last time, so we just decided to go again! We have to make sure that all our PDays are really good because we don't have that many left, and there's still a lot to see and do!

Zone Training was pretty good. We missed a good chunk of it because we were teaching Sue. I went on a split to Darmstadt afterward. It was really fun. I like Darmstadt actually! Some people think it's an ugly city, but it's prettier than Mannheim at least lol. So I had fun there. Next week we have our goodbye ZOKO with President Schwartz. :( Bummer about that.

I can't believe that this is my last transfer!! It's so unreal. I was looking over my journal the other day from this time last year. I just barely got into Hanau. The time goes by soooooo fast. 

The List of Miracles! 6/9/14

After much complaining about all the rain and cold, Germany has decided to show us up by boiling us alive. It has been SOOO hot lately. Soooooo hot. It's supposed to be in the mid-90s today, and on top of that it's a holiday, so all of Germany is shut down. So either we hide in our stuffy, hot apartments (because Germany does not believe in Air conditioning) or get baked in the sun. We'll see what we end up doing today, haha. Supposed to be just as hot the rest of the week. I hope I survive!

We have transfer calls this Saturday. So crazy! I hope Sister Lehman stays. She hopes she does too. That's a lot to say for comps who have been together six months, haha. But really, it would only be like six more weeks together, and it would be really fun. We have Zone Training on Wednesday, and then afterward I'll be heading up to Darmstadt for a split, which means I'm going to miss a HUGE finding activity for half of the Zone in Speyer, but oh well...I like Darmstadt! Also for the holiday this week half of the ward is gone, so we'll see what we can do this week as well.

BUT we have had MIRACLES happen this last week. Get ready for me to list them all. So for the ward hike a couple weeks ago, we felt that maybe we had stayed out too long at that we should just take half a PDay last week. We were bummed of course, but yeah anyway. We had lunch with our district, but we took too long with lunch, and we really wanted to go to the Speyer Dom, but we felt that it would probably be better if we headed back to Mannheim. So we did, and then about thirty minutes later our investigator (we'll call her...Sue?) calls us and asks if we could meet NOW because she was feeling really bad and needed help. So we were able to meet with her then! If we had gone to Speyer it would have taken probably an hour and half to get back and get to the church to meet her. So we were able to see her, and because the Elders here in Mannheim had done the same thing, we were able to call them and ask them to come, because Sue wanted a blessing. It was soooo cool because at first she had been a little skeptical of the laying on of hands; she's been to other churches and has seen some sketchy things with that. But she got a blessing and said she knew it was from God because no two 19 year-old boys could have done and said those things! That was soooo cool. Then we were able to meet with our other investigator afterward and have a way good lesson with her and another member. It was soooo cool.

But THEN it gets even better. The next morning we were heading off to see Sue again, and she lives waaaay far away. Sadly, no members were able to drive us and come teach with us that morning, so we set off waaay early to take the train and the bus all the way out there. But as were on our way, Sue called us. We were really nervous that she wanted to cancel our appointment, and we had been planning to challenge her to baptism, but the conversation was basically like, 'Heyy Sisters, how's it going? Yeah I'm good...So I was thinking this morning, could you two prepare a lesson about baptism? I'd really like to get baptized.' WHAT?? We were like...'Uhhh yeahh uhhhh sure we could do that...' So we talked to her about baptism and she was soooo solid and excited and she said she wanted to get baptized ASAP. We initially set the date for the 14 of June, but then a couple days later realized that might have been a little tooooo soon. We talked to her about it, and we prayed about it as well, so now we're doing it on the 28th of June!! Miracles??? Oh yeahhhhh Miracle Mannheim!! So awesome.

Our other investigator left today for a vacation to the US, and Sister Lehman is way sad because she might get transferred and never see them again! But they said goodbye last night (like hopefully not goodbye but just in case goodbyes, haha). I can't believe I only have one transfer left! I have to buy a Kinder Egg tomorrow. My last real one! So crazy. This is President Schwartz's last transfer. :( Next transfer we'll have a new mission president.

But...yeah. It's been a pretty good week, you could say, haha. The Church is really true!! 

Miracle Mannheim! 6/2/14

There are MIRACLES happening here in Mannheim. Miracle Mannheim. So we're teaching this way awesome prepared woman, and we had a couple lessons with her last week, and she was reading in the BM and everything. She said she would come to church on Sunday, and church started and we were way sad because NOBODY was there. None of our investigators came, and we had been meeting with a ton of less actives who said they would also come. But then like fifteen or twenty minutes in EVERYBODY in the world shows up. It was sooooo cool. Our Gospel Principles class was the fullest its ever been. It was so awesome! The woman we're teaching said she didn't want to come to church cuz she had a way bad headache, but then she just had this feeling that she really, really needed to be there. We're so happy! And another one of our investigators is doing so much better. She's been having a lot of family problems lately, but she actually asked for a blessing from the Elders! Sister Lehman has been telling her to get a blessing since October, but she's always been a little hesitant, but on Friday she actually called us and asked for one. It was such a huge miracle. Sister Lehman cried cuz she was so happy lol. And some less actives came and asked us to teach some of their family members who aren't members. So we have a lot planned for this week!

We went on a hike with the ward on Thursday. That was really nice. The ward is soooo loving. Yesterday a nice couple invited us over after church and stuffed us full of rouladen and knödel and bubbly water. (Typical German food--you can google it if you want to know more) It was way good. Then they stuffed us with cake. I could barely move afterward. Then it was our investigators birthday so we brought cake over and sang happy birthday and ate MORE cake. Uggghhh I felt sooo gross, haha. But now I'm hungry cuz it's a new day and it's almost lunch time! Last week for PDay we went to this place a little farther away called Felsenmeer (also Google-able). It's like this giant giant rockslide, and we climbed up it. Took a really long time, and it was waaaay fun. We want to go back sometime this transfer. I'll have to send pictures next week--I forgot my card reader, sorry! Anyway, it was really fun. Today we might make it out to the Speyer Dom. We'll see if we have time.

Sister Lehman is still here, haha, and will be here for at least another week or two. Transfer calls are next week. That's really crazy. Crazy to think that June is here as well! Also there's going to be a really big 2-stake conference in a couple weeks with the Area Presidency, and guess where it's going to be?? HANAU!!! I am soooooo excited. Also really puzzled why they're having it in Hanau, cuz Hanau the city is a little dinky town, haha. I guess they rented out this ginormous city hall auditorium thing. But still I am soooooo excited to go back there and see everything again! I'm going to see people from Frankfurt, too, because it's a huge stake conference. I am super stoked.

We have the worst luck with transportation 5/26/14

Things have been really great this week. The weather got super nice again, so that was a really nice miracle. We were able to get out with a new convert for a while and she showed us this little lake with these cute little baby swans! Soooo cute. Also this other family of swans tried to come over and use the lake, but the dad swan of the other family got right over there and fought the other one. It was waaay mean of him. Then the mom and dad swan with their two little babies had to walk all the way back up the hill to try to find somewhere else to live. Lol it was soooo sad! And the baby swans were so cute. They kept plopping down to rest cuz they were so tired from walking everywhere. So that was a cool drama to see, haha.

But really, it was a cool week. We got in touch with some really cool people, so we have even more people to work with! A woman Sister Lehman taught over five months ago got in touch with us again, and we taught her last week and she came to church yesterday!! That was so cool to see. Unluckily, yesterday happened to be the day that a crazy man tried to visit our church. He came in with an American flag and a flag from Israel and was shouting a bunch of crazy stuff. That was nerve-wracking!! haha, luckily he didn't stay too long and didn't cause too much drama, but of course the day we have a really awesome investigator show up is the day the crazies show up. Satan's way of making them scared of the church!! But no fear, we're still teaching her this week. She's really nice and I hope she makes a lot of progress.

There was also another fair thing going on in Mannheim this week. I dunno, the city just decides it needs another party. So we were trying to work on some things with our district one night, but then like no one showed up on time so it was a huge waste, and then we tried to get back to Mannheim with the Elders. Then our train fell out, of course. Then the next didn't come for like thirty or forty minutes...Then it was delayed and delayed. So after waiting an eternity we finally made it back to Mannheim, but then our street car to take us back to our apartment didn't come for like forever, so we ended up just walking, but that might've been a mistake. It was 10 pm on a Saturday night with a party going on in the city. That was really interesting. Also frightening. But the Elders were really really nice and walked us home. So point is, we got home safe and sound, but it was scary.

We have a ton of really cool things to do this week. We're excited to get going! I really feel as if Mannheim is ready for a change. Things are really picking up. We're so happy to see that. I'm super happy and love the ward so much. Also Sister Lehman. I'll be sad to see her go. :( Six months of our lives together!

Christi Himmelfahrt 5/19/14

This week has seemed pretty long, haha, but I still somehow can't believe it's Monday again. Sometimes the days seem to drag on forever, but then when I lay down to go to sleep I feel as if I just got up a minute ago, haha. But that's pretty normal, apparently. I heard the last two transfers go by sooooo fast. Noooo! But it's already the third week of this transfer. That's so weird.

Felsenmeer

Last PDay we played some sports with our district and ate lunch together. Nothing too amazing but it was pretty fun. I think we're going to try to have some kind of bbq today. Our district has been basically the same for such a long time, so we've all kind of seen almost everything there is to see, lol. But next week I think we'll be doing something a little more exciting. We were talking to a member about it yesterday and she told us about these huge rock fields that are really fun to visit and see. So we'll see about that.

This week was pretty good! It was just another week of a lot of fallen-out appointments, haha. Also I got sick again one day?? I don't know why this keeps happening. And then on Saturday we had Zone Training, so we went down to Heidelberg. We walked to the church from the main train station through this field thing, and then randomly my body decided it has allergies to things like that, so for most of the Zone Training I was sneezing and itching my eyes. Plus I was asked to give a Thema (like a lesson...thing?) and I had just taken a Benadryl so I was pretty loopy throughout most of it. Then we went back to eat lunch and I kinda passed out. But after that I was okay, haha. We also did a finding activity with the Elders where we went to the big main square/market thing of the city and chalked the plan of salvation, and we talked to a ton of people and gave out Book of Mormons and stuff. It was way cool. And a guy even called us afterward about it!! Because we write our number in case people see it afterward and have questions. That was cool. So for the past two or three weeks Sister Lehman and I have been chalking it in a park near our apartment, and as I was talking to these two girls in the big square last week one of them was like, 'HEY I saw a picture of this thing on Facebook! It was over in that park--that's so weird!' Hehehe...coincidence?? Anyway that was cool. We're way famous.

Sunday was a really awesome day full of miracles! So many amazing things happened. So many people showed up to church and we've been working with a lot of them, so that was really cool to see. We also got to talk to the new Bishop and we're really excited for what's going to happen here in Mannheim. As for German holidays, there are plenty of them. I think Christi Himmelfahrt is either this week or the next. That's the day Christ ascended to heaven. So they celebrate that. And Pfingsten is next month. What is Pfingsten you ask?? I'm not really sure. I think it's just like a summer holiday? But basically all the Germans go away for like two weeks on vacation and there is no one here to visit or teach. You wouldn't think about this, but holidays are a really stinky time to be a missionary, haha. No one is home.

It's been a great week! 5/4/14

We are such hipsters....

I feel a lot, a lot, a LOT better! I thought my body was breaking down last week. But everything is better now. Better than better, because we're both staying ANOTHER transfer together here in Mannheim! It was really a surprise, even though we did have some feelings...but it really was crazy. That's six transfers in Mannheim for Sister Lehman, and we'll be together four transfers. That is a really, really long time to be with a companion...but it's okay, cuz Sister Lehman is so cool and we get along really, really well. I love her!! I'm so happy we get to work together more. After her...I might only have one more companion. So weird!! But cool thing is that you guys can see her next Sunday, haha. You all have to be really funny cuz I told her how funny you all are and how I'm probably the unfunniest (is that a word?? German has kinda messed up my English) in the family.

I'm not sure what we're doing next Sunday. It really snuck up on us. We knew it was coming...but then yesterday afternoon we realized that next Sunday was actually May 11 and we haven't asked anyone. But don't worry, we'll figure it out this week and see if we can send you a quick email letting you know when/where we can do it. No fears!

I have letters for a lot of people ready in my bag. I just need stamps now. That's usually the thing that keeps them in my apartment the longest, haha. I just have to get out and buy international stamps. But I've promised myself that I'll get them out today. I forgot my camera card reader, so sorry about the lack of pics this week. But the hike last week was really fun and nice! Sister Lehman and I bought a 'comp unity' item last week. Matching hipster glasses! So we've been having fun having 'hipster moments' of the day. Sad to say I'm not a very good hipster...I can't get that blank/slightly depressed look to look good. Mostly I just look in pain. But you guys can see for yourself whenever I find my card reader. ALSO I made that cinnamon roll cake the other night to celebrate the start of our fourth transfer together. It's SOOOO good. Sadly I used up the rest of the brown sugar...but it was so worth it. Ughhh I felt like all

Cinnamon Roll Cake

that sugar and butter clogged up my arteries. Totally worth it.

It rained a lot last week, which sadly cancelled the ward activity! :( But we have a Gemeindewanderung (ward hike) in a couple weeks, so hopefully that'll make up for it. Also we got a new Bishopric (sp?? whatevs Bischofschaft) yesterday! We are so pumped. The new one is really young, but we're so excited to work with them. We really feel that this new change is going to get Mannheim going. Woooo! AND two cute eight year-olds are getting baptized on Saturday. We've been teaching one of them the lessons at the request of her Grandmother. She's so cute. She's actually Jasira's little sister. So we're really excited for Saturday.

This week was pretty good, but of course there were plenty of trials. Something that I really learned this week is how much the Gospel can bless families. Yesterday we were at an appt. and it was really, really bad. That poor family--the whole family was there, and it was just so sad to see how they treated each other. We left crying and I felt so horrible all night. It might sound corny or cheesy, but the principles taught by the church (and obviously by Christ) really do bless families and make families what they should be. Basically...all I learned was that the Church is true and that its really structured to help support and teach families, because families are so important! Okay...that wasn't groundbreaking, but you hear all these things throughout your life, and then coming out here and seeing it happen (or not happen) is just a huge testimony-builder.

Today we're celebrating Cinco de Mayo!! Woo happy Monday! I'm not sure exactly what we're going to do. I think we might go to Frankenstein castle. I'll take lots of pictures and hopefully be able to send some next week.

Two Transfers Left! 4/28/14

Okay April showers only happening on PDay, of course. But we won't let that deter us! I think we're going to go on a hike today and try to find some castle ruins. We'll see if we actually manage to do that, haha. But April is almost over. That's such a crazy thought.

 

That's me!

Missions are the best! Also really hard, but the best ever. This week was not that exciting because I was sick a lot and ended up sleeping. Woops. I thought of President Uchtdorf's talk from last Priesthood session about sleeping through the Restoration. I don't want to literally sleep through my mission! Lol, I'm a lot better now though, so hopefully I won't be sleeping so much this week. But it made me realize just how tired I really am! I'm soooo tired. But it's okay, I can definitely stay awake for another couple months. There's not much time left!

 

But really...this week wasn't too interesting besides my being really sick. We taught some really awesome people and then talked to some really cool people in parks as well. Finally got in contact with an investigator who dropped off the face of the planet for over a month, haha. That was a miracle. We had a street display in another area, but I was still feeling sick so I wasn't able to help out much. Mostly I tried to entertain these two little Chinese girls who came over to watch us, and they didn't know any German at all. So that was fun. They were really cute. Church was really good, though! We had a couple people come, so that was also a miracle. This week the ward is going to a really huge, pretty park on May 1st for a ward activity, so I think we'll go for a little bit as well. I love this ward!

 

The work is going really well here! I love it. It's way hard, of course, but that's how we learn and grow (sadly, haha). Also, I almost totally forgot to tell you that TRANSFER CALLS are on Saturday. Wow, the time goes by way fast! I almost forgot, lol.  I bought my Egg but forgot to bring it with me, so I haven't opened it yet. Woops! But we'll see what it predicts. Somehow we're getting feelings that Sister Lehman is staying here again! But usually my feelings on transfers turn out to be completely wrong, so we'll see what the Lord has in store. Like I said, I'm pretty sure that I'll be staying and dying here in Mannheim, so we'll see if I get a new comp or not. :( I love Sister Lehman so much!! Luckily she goes to USU as well so we can be friends afterward.) I got to talk to Sister Wilson last night. She got transferred back up to her very first area last transfer. It would be soooo weird to go back to Frankfurt. But she's doing well. Also Sister Beck is having fun over in Coburg now, apparently! She finally got transferred out of Hanau as well. She was there five transfers like I was. I feel like my time in Hanau was only a couple weeks. And my time here in Mannheim feels like a couple weeks as well. Actually...my whole mission feels as if it's flown by. Two transfers left!

Easter Email 4/22/14

Pide Bread

Today I have treat of writing to you while being serenaded by a drunk man in our internet cafe. Okay, not serenaded, per say, but he is really enjoying his song. It's been a really good PDay! Minus the fact I woke up with a yucky head cold. Seriously, what the hack?? I only get sick about once a year, so that's stupid. Oh well, it should only last a couple days.  But today was really, really fun. We went to these gardens behind this castle, and it was like Pride and Prejudice or like the gardens in Versailles in France. Really pretty. I'll send you a couple pictures. Then we came back to Mannheim and had lunch at this Turkish restaurant that Sister Lehman and I have always wanted to eat at. All the food looked way good and it always smells good when we walk past. And good news--the food was good. I got some pide bread with special Turkish stuff on it.

And last PDay was fantastic as well! Even though you lazies didn't do anything fun for Easter, our whole district dyed eggs and had an Easter Egg hunt. It was super fun! There's a fun tradition here of blowing the yolk out of the eggs and then dying them and hanging them up on trees. So we did that. It was really fun. Sorry you guys missed out and only wanted the candy! Ohhh you guys. Anyway, the whole weekend is pretty much a big holiday for the Germans. On Friday they all eat fish for Karfreitag. 'Only eat fish on Fridays...unless you forget!' But yeah, it's tradition. (Which we did not follow...woops.) And then on Monday it's just...another day for a holiday, I guess. But for Easter Sunday we went to church. Sadly more than half the ward decided to travel to other places and visit family! So we were a small bunch. But it was still good! All of the Primary leaders/teachers were gone, so they asked me to go play piano and help out. So I got to go to Primary. Those kids are so cute! Then Sister Lehman and I made special Easter pizza for our meal when we got home after church. I guess it wasn't that special...we just made pizza, lol. It was good pizza, at least. And it was good because I didn't make it. I thought I would learn how to cook out here...haha that didn't happen. One of the Elders we work with had a birthday last Wednesday, so Sister Lehman bullied me into trying to bake a cake. It was...really bad. Good thing the other Sisters brought cookies! I just threw the cake away and tried to pretend it never existed, haha.

It was also Sister Lehman's year mark last week, so in honor of it we went to this hole-in-the-wall pizza place, and it was really, really good as well. Don't worry, though--in between all these fancy meals we're eating cereal and sandwiches, so no fear of us spending money like crazy people, cuz we're not really. The ward is doing really, really well though. I love this ward! A typical day...hmmm. We wake up at 6:30, work out (or try to) for thirty minutes, get ready, study for an hour, then study together/plan lessons for another hour, then sometimes we have appointments so we leave, or sometimes we don't so we study German for another hour. Then sometimes we're able to stick lunch in there. Then we just have appointments and regular missionary stuff for the rest of the day. Also sometimes we are able to eat dinner before nine o' clock. Then we come home, plan for the next day, and do it all over again! Every day is like that. Except PDay, cuz then we can go see castles or something.

The Church is true and we're really blessed to be a part of it! Also, if you get a chance, go to LDS.org and watch the Easter video called 'Because of Him.' It is WAY cool. 

Time goes by too fast 4/14/14

The weather here has been pretty nice. Except PDays...for the most part. Germany decides that it wants Mondays to be cold and windy, and most of the other days to be warm and sunny, haha. It's not raining (yet), but it's pretty chilly. Everything here has been fine!! Really good. Zone Training was really, really good. Probably the best one I've been to! I learned so much. And President was able to be there for the last little bit, and he really taught me so much. Seriously, questions I've had literally my whole mission were answered. I love that little German guy! I went up to Darmstadt afterward to go on a split. Darmstadt is a way pretty city! It was a really fun split. Luckily all our trains were punctual this time, haha.

Sister Lehman and I were talking about missions this week (surprise surprise haha), and I am just SOOO happy that I get to be out here! Sometimes I really take it for granted, but it's really so cool to be able to be here. I miss you guys a lot and stuff, and sometimes it's way hard and I just want to quit, but it's really such an awesome blessing and opportunity. I've learned so much and have met so many amazing people. Missions are the best! 

We forgot to go shopping last week, so we got a little creative/desperate during the week. Luckily I was in Darmstadt for a day and a half, and they had food there. But last nights dinner was some concoction of eggs...and old peppers...and old onions...and curry stuff. Luckily I had Cadbury Eggs!! Haha. But we did not forget this week. Our shopping is all done, thankfully. If only I knew how to cook it all, haha.

I really have stayed pretty close to Frankfurt my whole mission, haha. Pretty much I've stayed in Hessen, which is kind of like...a state of Germany?? No like a county or something. I dunno, it's just like this area of Germany called Hessen, haha. But I sometimes get to go to Baden-Württemberg! Mannheim is on the border of those two. But it's okay, I really love this area of Germany, and I really do feel like I've been to a ton of places. So cool!! I love Germany. I miss you guys a lot, but I want to stay in Germany for another couple months. Besides, I can't believe that we get to Skype in a month or so. Time goes soooo fast!! 

Conference! 4/7/14

Happy April! The weather here is sooooo nice. Seriously, Mannheim looks so much better with green in it. The parks are so pretty now. I love the good weather! I think I may have blinded all of Germany because I finally unleashed my pasty legs from their tights last week. They are in serious need of some Vitamin D.

General Conference was soooo great! We watched the Womens Session in Heidelberg on Saturday afternoon. Then we were able to watch the Saturday morning session on Saturday evening. Next day they broadcast the Saturday afternoon session, which we watched in Heidelberg with one of our investigators. That evening they broadcast the Sunday morning session, and we watched that with some members. Usually they'll broadcast the Sunday afternoon session the next week at church. I hope they do that here, too! It was soooooo amazing! I learned so many things. I'm way bummed that that was the last conference of my mission, but I'm glad that I learned how amazing and important General Conference actually is! I hope that I remember all that I learned and that I actually do something about it, haha.

Glad that everyone is alive! We're still alive too. This week was good. We were able to be outside a lot and do some service projects and stuff, and I was way happy that there was no rain or anything. We had our last district meeting at the Wasserturm and then went out to eat together. That was way fun. The new district is cool, too! We also have Zone Training tomorrow, surprise! Told us about that one just a couple days ago, haha. This transfer is only five weeks! It's going to go by sooooo fast, especially with all the crazy stuff happening, like Easter and splits and stuff.

We had a way fun PDay last week! We did end up having a picnic on the river. A dog came and stole some of our stuff. But luckily his owner was nice enough to bring it back, haha. I think we're going to a castle today. I'm not exactly positive, but it's okay, PDays usually always turn out way fun when you hang out with your district. Also the Zone Leaders have apparently announced that they refuse to plan anymore Zone PDays, because the last one was a big flop, I guess, and hardly anyone came, haha. Oops and I showed Sister Lehman the pics before I read the email...that's okay, she's cool and doesn't judge. We just laughed and she said that that's her family as well. But luckily we have the Internet and Ensign to review the talks that we slept through!!

Mannheim is really great. We serve one ward here. The Mannheim ward, obviously. The members are really cool. We usually get to meet with them a couple times a week. Good food lately...we've been trying to figure out how to make curry, haha. We went to a little creepy Asian food store and bought some coconut milk and curry paste. It tasted pretty good for it being our first attempt! I love curry now. It's soooo good. Also all the ice cream stores have opened up again. That's really dangerous for us. Ice cream is really delicious here. And very convenient to get, haha.

The church is true. General Conference has answers for us. 

We Are Wanted Fugitives! 3/31/14

March 31st!!

Maaaannnn how? I was actually way nervous for March because there wasn't too much going on except Zone Conference, so I thought it was going to drag on, but it's seriously gone by faster than like...all the other months. Except maybe December. But still, it's over already! It was soooo nice last week. Again, cardigan weather! Today we wanted to have a picnic on the river with the other Sisters in our district, but we woke up to overcast skies...We'll see what we end up doing, haha. The Zone went down to Heidelberg again to see the castle (AGAIN snoorreee been there done that). Okay that's probably mean...but seriously, every PDay the Zone plans is like HEIDELBERG SCHLOSS! Also since Sister Lehman and I don't have tickets to go down there we were like...yeah no. And one of the other Sisters already served in Heidelberg so they were more than happy ditching that PDay with us and making up our own, haha. Conveniently, the Zone Leaders serve in Heidelberg so they don't have to travel/pay personal money to get there...how convenient...haha.

Staying together for another transfer!

Sister Lehman is staying here at least one more transfer. We were positive she was leaving. Wooooo no changes! Two three-transfer comps right in a row! No, it's way good. I love Sister Lehman so much. We're actually waaaay happy with how it turned out. Also I have this suspicion that I'm going to die here in Mannheim. I mean, when Sister Lehman leaves I'll only have two transfers left, and I still have to introduce someone to the area, so that's only one transfer. So unless they randomly ship me off to somewhere for a random six weeks...which is unlikely and weird and doesn't make sense...I think I'm dying here. Another five transfers in one area! That's okay. I can totally do that. It goes by waaaaaay fast.

Interesting things that happened this week...hmm. Oh yeah. So guess what was this week?? Zeitumstellung. Daylight Savings. And guess who were misinformed? Oh yeah we were. We knew it was the weekend, but we weren't sure if it was Saturday night or Sunday night that we were supposed to change the clocks, so I called our District Leader and like triple-checked with him and he assured me that it was Sunday night. PS it wasn't. So we were heading to church the next morning and were like, 'Hmmm, how strange...the Elders aren't getting on the train with us.' And then it was stranger and stranger. Then we saw the time on the bus. Yaaaay an hour late to church! Even better because it was ward conference so we had a ton of Stake visitors. Totally being an example. lol. Mostly the ward members just laughed at us. Oh well. You would think that the Elders would have called us when we weren't at church by 9:30...again, 19 year-old boys, haha. One of them is dying this week. He's finished with his mission. It's weird to see him go. 

I had a split this last week, too. That was fun! Got to have a nice train ride up to Darmstadt and back. Oh yeah the train had a delay of around 45 minutes when we were trying to get home. That was way great, standing in the cold in Darmstadt and waiting for our train. Deutsche Bahn!! Bane of our existence. Speaking of more Deutsche Bahn bane of our existence, remember when I told you that the mission took away our really, really nice train tickets and gave us little stupid ones? Last PDay as we were heading to go hang out with our district, the people come to check our tickets, and we were just a little nervous because we were not totally positive that our tickets covered all the way out there. I mean we were like 99% sure, but still...Anyway, we had some shifty eyes apparently, because the mean one came over and asked to see our tickets, and then he started ranting about a blue card and how our tickets weren't valid. And I was like, 'I have no idea what you're talking about. No one has said anything to us about it.' He said that our tickets needed like some special number from a blue card, and I told him that we've had these tickets for almost an entire month and literally not one single person (including other ticket checkers) has said anything. And he was like, 'Pech gehabt. 40 Euro.' So. Rude. Most of the time the ticket checkers are pretty nice and understanding, but that guy was having a bad day. Anyway, he gave us these little crumpled-up papers for us to fill out our information, and I was really mad and wasn't listening to what he was saying, so I was writing down my info, and then later Sister Lehman and I were mad and talking about it, but then we realized that we had both put down like way bad info, lol. I assumed it was asking for my USA info, so I put down 'Alison Shipton, birthplace: Roosevelt, Utah, USA.' Then it asked for the street and I was like...I have no idea what street the hospital is on. So I wrote down 'Hospital.' Then we gave the slips back and got off the train cuz it was finally our stop. Hahahahahaaaa. I don't know if you think it was funny, but we were talking to our district about it and just laughed all day. Basically I don't think they'll be able to find us, because I gave them Hospital, Roosevelt as my address, and Sister Lehman isn't registered in Mannheim, plus her last name is super common here...so...woops! So we went to the Deutsche Bahn travel office and told them the story so we wouldn't get ticketed again, and they just like pulled out this little blue card and gave it to us, simple as that. Grrrr!!! NO ONE told us, not the office elders, not the other Deutsche Bahn people...no one. But I guess we know now, plus I doubt that that 40 Euro ticket will find its way over to Hospital, Roosevelt.

We had a really, really, busy week again. On Saturday we played soccer again, and a bunch of German YSAs from the university came and played with us. It got waaaay intense...Mostly I just watched, haha. Luckily Sister Lehman is really good at soccer, and a companionship is a 50-50 relationship, so basically 50% of her playing was from me, too. We are way stoked to stay together another transfer. I can't believe it!!  The Gospel is really what makes us happy, for reals!!

Got to Ride the ICE 3/24/14

Happy Week of March!!

March has gone by sooooo fast. Well...is going by so fast. I can't believe it! And Sister Lehman and I were talking, and we realized that it's just going to get faster and faster and faster because of all the crazy things that are happening in the next couple months. Noooo! I just got out here the other day...The weather was colder this week, boooo. Today we're going to go just play games with our district because it's cold and rainy and gray outside. Hopefully next week will be nice, because Sister Lehman has always really wanted to go to this castle that is like Pride and Prejudice apparently. But we're still excited for today because our district is way fun. Last Monday was super super nice and waaaay fun. Ladenburg is really cool, and we ate delicious ice cream together as well.

Zone Conference was SO FUN. We got to ride an ICE up to Frankfurt (really fast train), and since I really haven't served too far away from Frankfurt, I haven't taken too many of those fancy trains. It was way fun...especially when the train was full and none of the Elders would give up their seats, so we stood the whole time, haha. Ohhh 19 year old-boys...But whatevs. Zone Conference was awesome. It was all I ever wanted!! I got to see Sister Beck and Sister Wilson, and we just laughed all day and had so much fun! And Elder Dyches and his wife were way awesome and taught us a bunch of stuff. I can't believe I only have one Zone Conference left. :( I'm way bummed about that, actually. But it's okay! I still have three whole transfers to make all my dreams come true!! Naja...that's really not up to me. Transfer calls are Saturday. I hope Sister Lehman doesn't leave! We haven't gone shopping yet, so no Kinder Egg right now, but I'm really nervous to open it.

It was a good week!! Cold, windy, lots and lots and lots of fallen out appointments...(seriously, more than usual this week), but it was really good anyway! We got to play soccer on Saturday in the mud and the rain, and I got kicked in the legs a lot so I'm a little sore right now, haha. And this week will be really good, too. I hope it's not my last week with Sister Lehman. We did way intense transfer predictions last night for all of the Sisters in the mission. Sadly, we had to predict that she was leaving to go to the other end of the mission, to Münster. :( But we can still hope!

Sometimes I hear of Elders who, when they get to around this point in their mission (the 13/14/15 month mark), everyone forgets about them and stops writing. Sometimes even their parents forget!! That would be sooooo sad. So point is, don't forget me! I love getting the emails and knowing how everyone is doing. I'm glad that life is continuing. Things are continuing here in Mannheim. 

St. Patrick's Day in Germany? 3/17/14

Happy Monday!

As far as I know, Germany doesn't officially celebrate St. Patricks Day. I could be totally wrong...but I don't think so. But don't worry, I'm wearing green! I remember St. Patricks last year in the MTC. People got way intense with it, haha. But enough about St. Patricks, the thing I'm excited for this week is Zone Conference!! Thursday. It'll be awesome. I can't believe how fast March is going by. It's General Conference soon, too. I'm so excited! I love General Conference.

We were especially busy this week. I don't think there was any specific reason, but we were just always on the go hurrying from one thing to another. It's nice to have a PDay, haha. Today we're going to go with a member to a little city called Ladenburg, and we managed to borrow some bikes from some members, so we'll just be biking around. Haha, I missed bikes! Not really...but today I'm wearing pants, so it'll be fine. The weather last week was the nicest weather everrrr. We pretty much never wore our coats. But this week is supposed to be a little colder. :( Boooo. Oh well, at least it's not as cold as it was last year. It was FREEZING when I got to Germany. I remember I slept with three blankets and made Sister Mosher put the heater on like full blast, haha. But the sun feels so good. We went on a picnic with a member and just enjoyed the sun.

Teaching is going great here! Lots of cool progress. We just had a really good week overall. Kinder Überraschung is next week!! Can't believe it. I hope Sister Lehman and I stay together! We both feel as if we're only in our like second or third week together, haha. Maybe that means we should stop having so much fun...nah. The Lord wants us to be happy out here, haha. We can work hard and still have fun. And we did it! We hit a lesson high this week, highest I've ever hit on my mission, so hopefully we're doing something right. For PDay emails, most of the time it just depends on the area. But here we usually get to the internet cafe at about 10:30, and I usually manage to get all my emails off (slash do a bunch of mission stuff online) in about an hour and a half/two hours.

Fasching 3/10/14

It's been a really cool week, and I have plenty of pics to accompany it, I think. Starting off with the usual weather bit, it was SO NICE these past couple days. I carried around my jacket mostly, and felt really nice in my cardigan and not-so-thick tights. Apparently this is one of the warmer areas of Germany, which is perfectly fine with me. I haven't worn my giant black coat in like two whole weeks. Wooo!! That's exciting. I will gladly mow the lawn when I get home, though...I miss mowing lawns, haha. Germany isn't too big on stand-alone houses, and even then their lawns are a lot of the time mostly landscaping with not a lot of grass. I mean there are always exceptions, but that's a lot of what I see. Anyway, on to the past week of my mission!

PDay last week was REALLY fun. After we emailed we found our district in a restaurant, and a couple of Elders had ordered SUPER spicy currywurst. Currywurst is basically cut up sausage with sauce and fries, and it's pretty good. Anyway, they ordered some that is way way WAY spicy, and to order it you have to be at least like 18 I think and have to sign a waiver. So that was really funny. I ate one piece. It was SPICY. I can do spicy usually, especially here in Germany where they DON'T do spicy...but that was really, reaaaallly bad spicy. Haha. I thought I had burned a hole through my tongue. The spicy level went 1-8, and the Elders had ordered a level 6. Sister Lehman got some really good action shots of them eating the last few bites, haha. THEN a lot of the Elders conquered another one of their fears and rode the Ferris Wheel!! Good for them, lol. It was waaaay fun. They were really scared, poor little guys, haha!! We rode the Ferris Wheel then went and walked around the booths and carnival. I ate probably too much...but it was all delicious, except the Dampfnudeln. It's a local specialty here, and it's just like salty bread. Most people really like them. I didn't like them as much, even with the sauce. But I ate enough other delicious stuff to make up for it. It was a really fun PDay, and it was fun to hang out with our district again. Fasching WAS really intense. The Mannheim Elders were out for a little bit on Tuesday night, which was the huge party night, and they said it was just like a wall of people drinking and puking and partying...wooo, fun. Sister Lehman and I were headed home around 5:30, and the trains were already picking up crazy drunk people in costume on their way to the Innenstadt to party. We were safely tucked away Tuesday night, and we made a lot of plans AND made cinnamon rolls. Those are such a pain...never again!! But they tasted really good, even though we didn't have proper brown sugar. But it was a really fun night, even more fun that being attacked by drunk people! (which happened to us again a couple days later at like 4:00 in the afternoon...Germany, what??)

Way stoked for ZOKO next week! ZoKos are super, super fun! They're basically this all-day spiritual feast where President just gives these awesome lessons plus makes his cute little German jokes and sometimes shows us funny clips from Finding Nemo, and then we have delicious lunch together and get to see all of our old friends from old areas/zones (or old companions!!!), and then we go back and have more themas, and it's really fun and sometimes we get to travel to places! Like this time it'll be in Frankfurt, so I get to go back. Yessss.

ALSO we did go back to Frankfurt on Saturday! The other Sisters in our district and we took a quickly-planned trip to the temple in Friedrichsdorf. That was soooo fun and really good. WE SAW THE NEW SESSION. It was amazing. It was sooooooo cool. I cried pretty much the whole time, lol. I learned so much. It was amazing!! It's all I've been thinking about the past couple days. I want to go back so badly and see it again. Anyway, it was the highlight of our week. The temple was much needed, and it was so fun to hang out with other Sisters for a while.

And for the German scriptures, they give us a set the day we enter the MTC, so I have a set of German scriptures. They don't have any quads or anything, but they do have a triple, so I have a German triple and a big red German Bible, haha. 

It was a really great week and I guess I had a lot to say. Things are going really well over here. I'm so blessed and happy to be where I am, even if it's really hard. Mannheim is a city of miracles! I know this is where the Lord wants me to be right now. I love you all so much and hope you have a great week. Thanks for everything!!

March is Here! 3/3/14

March is here already!!

And with it comes the chilly, gray rain, haha. Hopefully it'll clear up, because I am definitely not a fan of these tights...I've taken to wearing a lot of different colors to try to mix things up. Black and gray and brown get really old really fast. I was hoping it would be nice today because of PDay, but it's a little drizzly. Hopefully it'll clear. It was Fasching this weekend. Fasching is pretty much the Mardi Gras of Germany. It's the celebration people have before Lent, before they all give up something for 40 days. Basically another excuse to drink a lot, haha. But people wear crazy costumes, and there is a tradition of cutting off people's ties! So the assistants sent a text around last Friday warning the Elders to wear their least-favorite ties, because they run the risk of having them get cut off, haha. Tomorrow is the last day, which is good. There have been some parades and things, which mess up the trains, and yesterday we ended up walking to an appointment at the Bishop's because NO trains were running. Only an hour or so late...hooray Fasching!! :) But it actually is pretty crazy. There's a carnival here with a Ferris Wheel and other rides, and lots of little booths with delicious food, so that's what we're doing today for PDay with our district. Fasching festival!! Don't worry. No beer and no costumes for us. :) But we're actually really excited to go. How often do you get to ride a Ferris Wheel in front of the Wasserturm? Probably like...never.

I feel as if Germany has made me a much better driver! Actually we'll see...Maybe it's because all the Germans are such good drivers and they can avoid me?? Haha. But there has to be a reason they kicked me out of Hanau and took me away from the one Sister area with a car. Mannheim is doing great. The ward had a Fasching party last Friday night. It was a pretty crazy day, though, so we got there late and had to leave early, because President has asked us to be home before it gets too dark because of Fasching and all the crazy drunks wandering around. Blehhh got sick again this weekend. Not too bad, just a gross cough and head cold, but it feels like it's clearing up. Hopefully never again! This is stresssful enough without feeling physically gross. Friday we had to give over our really, really nice train tickets to some Elders in Rammstein. That wasn't fun. Now we have these dumb little dinky tickets that don't cover a lot of our area. Grr...Hanau all over again!! It was really cool to be able to go places without paying to get there. But...so ist es. At least the Rammstein Elders felt bad enough to give us Cadbury Eggs they managed to get from the Military Base. Score! If Sarah goes to Germany, they'll have access to the base and everything, so they will never be in want of American food, haha. I mean, the German food is amazing and delicious...but there really is no peanut butter, no brown sugar...you know, a lot of little things that would be nice to have sometimes. I might have to go over and visit her and teach her some things about Germany if she gets stationed there, haha. :)

Zone Conference is in two weeks. I'm sooooo excited! I'm thinking about all the people I get to see. It's going to be so fun! I get to see Sister Beck AND Sister Wilson!! And answering your question, I've been senior comp uninterrupted since my third transfer. So...7 transfers total? Something like that. I really have loved all my comps. It definitely hasn't been easy with some of them, but I really do love all of them. (Some got more love AFTER we were transferred, lol.) We have Zone Training next week. Should be good, too!

Haha, German. I try. Some days it comes easier than others. But I really do feel like the Lord has blessed me. I really do have better German than I deserve. I don't know why, but I really am grateful for that. Missions are so hard--they're hard enough without a new language, and so I think Heavenly Father just gave me one less thing to freak out and stress out about. I have plenty of other things, lol.

Lovin' the Sites in Germany 2/24/14

This week went by wayyy too quickly. It was so insane. We had eating appointments almost every night, and so yesterday I felt like I was in a food coma and needed an oxygen tank because I couldn't breathe. But it was all delicious, at least! The worst is eating something really gross and just thinking of all the wasted calories on something that's not delicious. So we're trying to cut back this week. I think the cinnamon rolls will wait at least until next week, haha. We went running this morning, and it was really painful. I could feel all the Nutella like clogging up the arteries into my heart. But it's getting lighter earlier, so that makes it a lot easier to go out and run in the morning. The winter was way dark and not very fun. So I just have to enjoy it until daylight savings. Grrrr! I like my mornings bright.

This is a place where they held Nazi Rallies

Last PDay was pretty fun! We went on this fun hike and got to see a lot of ruins and this amphitheater where they used to have Nazi rallies back in the day, and there was a really beautiful view overlooking Heidelberg, and we could see Mannheim in the distance, too. It was such a nice day---we all took our jackets off!! Today we're going...yep, to another castle. It's called Bad Dürkheim. I saw pictures of it once. It looks really beautiful. We actually tried to go there a couple months ago, but we got lost and went hiking up this hill and instead found ANOTHER castle up on the hill, haha. So pretty much you just hike to any hill and you can expect to find castle ruins...no joke.

Seeing the Sites

Stake Conference was soooo good! It was a broadcast filmed especially for the German saints. A member of the 70 spoke, as well as a member of the Relief Society Presidency, and then Elder Bednar got up and gave this sweeeet talk ALL in German. Wow!! He had served in München like 40 years ago. I hope that my German still sounds as good in 40 years. It was so cool. Also, no old companions. :( That was a bummer. But it was okay, because it was a really cool meeting. We have Zone Conference in a couple weeks, so I can see Sister Wilson and Sister Beck there! I talked to Sister Beck last night. It sounds as if Hanau is doing SO good! I'm soo happy. I love that ward so much. And Mannheim!! Ugghhh I love them all. The members of the Mannheim ward are pioneers. They're amazing, I admire them so much.

Pretty much all I know is I don't have much longer left. August 1st is not too far away...I really feel as if I just left! Most of the missionaries I know will be dying in the next couple transfers. It's so weird. Time feels nonexistent here. March on Saturday!! That means ZoKo, yaaaay! :)

We're doing really well out here, just more missionary work and having a lot of fun! Sister Lehman is exactly what I need at this point in my mission. I'm so glad I'm her companion!! And I'm so happy that I get to serve in Mannheim another transfer. Missions are the best, the church is true, and I love you all a lot! 

The Baptism was Beautiful! 2/17/14

Of course it's been an awesome miracle week. First, the BAPTISM! It was so beautiful. It was a little crazy at the beginning because a lot of people were late (actually weird for Germans, haha), so we kind of panicked because we weren't sure what to do, but it was really fine. Service only started about five/ten minutes late, and it was so amazing. Soooo many people came! It was as if it was a Sunday. There were so many ward members and so many nonmembers. Sister Lehman gave such a beautiful talk about baptism. The Spirit was soooo strong. I gave my testimony...don't know if it was as good as her talk, but naja. The whole thing was so nice. We stood in the back by the font with Jasira's mom. It was really just amazing. Her dad looked really nervous--it was so sweet to see how serious he took it and how much he realized what a big deal it was that he was able to baptize his daughter. Anyway, it ended up being really beautiful and then afterward there was a giant dinner and that was way fun, too. It ended up just being amazing, and the Bishop confirmed her yesterday and gave a beautiful blessing. It's so amazing to be able to see such a miracle like that. I can't believe Heavenly Father blessed me in such a huge way! I'm so happy that I have time to hopefully experience that again.

The Kinder Eggs!! They were tricky this time. I got a little yellow Porsche convertible. I was tempted to say I was driving out of Mannheim, but I knew that couldn't be right, so we decided that I was going to stay in Mannheim until it's nice enough to drive around a convertible. Sister Lehman got Donald Duck's uncle playing golf. You know the rich one with the glasses?? Anyway, we were really scared it meant she was going somewhere...but in the end we decided that SHE was staying until it was nice enough to play golf outside. Maybe it was wishful thinking...but it came true!! We're both staying another transfer, and we're sooooo happy! We have a lot of plans and things we want to do together, and honestly, there's still a lot I need to learn about the area before she leaves me. Anyway, we're super happy to stay together at least one more. There actually aren't a lot of people changing. Remember Sister Miller, my comp in the MTC? She was in her first area for ten months! She finally moved...but she moved to the area literally right next to her old one, haha, a fifteen minute train ride away. Poor Sister Miller. But that's where the Lord needs her to be.

I heard that on the mission, lots of people write you right at the beginning, and then in the middle no one writes you because they forget, and then everyone starts writing a couple months before you get home because they suddenly remember you. I'm still in the middle part. That's okay! A couple more months and then maybe I'll get some more letters! But I do have my faithful writers...like Mom. Mostly. haha. Today we're going down to Heidelberg to hike up to the beautiful castle up there. Germany is sooooo cool!

We have Stake Conference this week. I think I get to see Sister Wilson! I think we're in the same stake...think so. But it'll be fun anyway. I gave a talk yesterday in Sacrament meeting. Hope it went okay. Can't believe a new transfer has started already. Also it's getting warmer, thank goodness. It hasn't been tooooo cold, but I'm definitely ready for summer. We had Zone Training this week and I had a split right afterward. That was really good, too. I got to take a pretty train ride up to Darmstadt and back. It's so green here, even in February. For Valentines Day Sister Lehman and I had a picnic and I made her tell me all about her love life. I'm so excited about this transfer. I'm so happy to stay here!

Heavenly Father blesses me so much 2/10/14

Another week gone already! And of course it was a good one because I got to eat pie! It was so delicious. As delicious as pumpkin pie can get out here, haha. They have no pie tins here, so we had to improvise and make it in a cheesecake pan. But it turned out well. Then we took it to our investigator and Sister Lehman made 'Lime Rickies' (Sprite and grape juice and limes), and we all celebrated my year mark together. Then we made ANOTHER pie with our investigator so she can share it with her family, lol. Her daughter's getting baptized on Saturday. We are sooooo happy. It's such a blessing to be able to see this baptism. Such a miracle and a blessing from the Lord. This week is going to be amazing. I can feel it! But we're also really scared for Saturday, because Sister Lehman thinks she's leaving. I don't want her to! She's one of my favorite comps! I feel as if we're only in our second week together. I haven't bought a Kinder Egg yet--we haven't gone shopping, sorry. Can't tell you right now. But we'll see what it predicts! Oohhhhh I'm so nervous! I hope she doesn't leave.

Ugghhhh also you cursed me! Last week you asked about my health and I said I was perfectly healthy all day, no no problems here, nothing, yeah I love health! And then on Friday (or Saturday...? can't remember) Sister Lehman and I BOTH woke up with nasty head colds. It wasn't anything really bad like I had last year, but it was still enough that we were like...blehhhh we don't want to live. So luckily we didn't have too many appointments these past few days and have been trying to take it as easy as it goes. It was really bad on Sunday, though. We were supposed to plan after lunch, and we still had like ten minutes left of lunchtime so we were like, 'We're just going to lay down for ten minutes and rest.' hahahaaaa...we just zonked out. That was bad. But it was really good to get a little extra rest. We're both on the mend, though. It wasn't anything too nasty. Germans love natural healing things, too, so we got a lot of advice from the ward. We've been drinking buckets of tea and have more vapor rub than we could ever use. So we'll be perfectly fine in a day or two.

Opera time!

Oh also other cool news! President gave us permission to go to an Opera! And we went!! It was sooooo fun and cool. We went on the 6th, another celebration of my year mark. We went to see Hänsel und Gretel. It was such a fun show! I wanted to see The Magic Flute, but we weren't sure if it was going to be really appropriate for missionaries, and when I talked to President about it, he was so cute and funny and was like, 'You know, sometimes Sister Shipsennn zahy have ze naked people running around ze stage!!' So we had to make sure it was appropriate, and Hänsel und Gretel was perfectly fine. And way fun! It was such a cool opportunity. Ughhh sometimes I don't believe how cool this life is. I get to be a missionary in Germany! Germany is so cool. I love this country. These people are so amazing. I love my comp so much, and this area is ready for miracles. And we have a baptism this week! Sometimes Heavenly Father blesses me more than I deserve.
I can't believe how fast this time has gone by. The other night Sister Lehman and I read each other some exerpts from our mission journals right as we were starting our missions. It was sooooo funny! Not in a bad way. But it was just so weird to see how different I feel and how much I've learned. We just laughed a lot at ourselves and each other, but really it was so interesting and cool to see the changes. Plus I was hilarious (not intentionally) and way dramatic when I was starting my mission. Not to mention I would always try to insert like some German here and there...and the German was so bad! lol. But as for the release date, I'm pretty positive that it's August 1st. And I think I emailed that already, but maybe it doesn't show up on the church website or something? That's just what I was told over email a couple transfers ago, and I haven't been told anything since. So plan for August 1st. That's a Friday. Noooo! I have less than six months left! 

First time being sick in Germany