Hey!

Hey All!

Just a quick e-mail.  I had a great Christmas!  I wish I had taken more pictures, but I guess I didn't.  I took a lot of pictures, but they weren't with my camera.  So, I have a few pictures for you.  One is a picture of Osdorf-Hamburg at night with the HSV stadium in the background.  One is a picture of me and one of the Elders in my apartment at the Train Station in Hamburg, and one is a picture of my old companion, Elder Staheli, in front of the Christmas tree at a member family's house.

Thanks for everything!

Have a wonderful new year!  Work hard, set some goals, and stay positive!

Sincerely,

Merry Christmas Week!

Hey!!

So this week is the week before Christmas, eh?  I hope you are all enjoying the season.  Sometimes this time of year brings stress, but I know you can try to put that away--at least for this coming week!

I missed writing last week, and so I have a couple weeks to catch up on!  First I want to tell a story from last week!

I love it here in Altona.  There's no other place I would rather be right now.  I want to stay here for the rest of the mission. That would be fun. We mostly have African investigators.  The Germans usually refuse to meet with us.  We have one German investigator, but he's more interested in simply talking about what he does and what he believes than learning about the Gospel.  He doesn't think it's worth his time to read in the Book of Mormon, so he doesn't do it.  You would be surprised how many Africans are here!  It's fun sometimes!  We have some pretty solid African investigators.  One of them wants to be baptised in April.  He's totally serious about it and everything.  One just needs to get married then he can get baptised, some of them are new.  The other day we went by a contact of ours (who is African) and we asked her if she had some time.  Earlier, we gave her a Joy to the World DVD.  She let us in, and she was watching the DVD already!  At that exact moment that we decided to go over, she was watching it.  Super awesome!

Another cool story.  We have a Chinese Investigator (who can speak German!).  My companion and I were headed over to an appointment and there were a couple ladies on the street.  My companion talked to one of them, I went and talked to the Chinese lady.  She agreed to meet with us, and during our first visit she told us she had been lonely lately and was excited to get to meet people in the church.  In our second appointment she told us the whole story.  She said she had been so lonely, so she called up one of her old professors and said she was unhappy in Germany, but she still likes it better than China.  Her professor said she needs to find some friends and she didn't know how.  Her professor then suggested that she get to know the church a little better in Germany.  One day she was feeling particularly upset and wanted to find more friends and still had this thought about the church in her head.  She "randomly" decided to go outside and take a walk.  Something she said she would never do on a normal day, and she didn't know why she did it that day.  We just happened to talk to her that day, and it made her so happy.  She is convinced that this is a crazy coincidence, and we told her that the Lord wants her to visit the church.  She still hasn't come to church, but it was a way cool story.  She told that to us this last week as we met with her.

We have also been having a crazy experience with one person who keeps telling us she wants us go to by.  It all started out with one appointment.  We made out this appointment with a young man, and we went by.  A lady answered the door and said he didn't live there and she doesn't really have interest.  We asked her if she might know where he lives, or if there is somebody she knows who may be interested.  She pointed at the apartment on the other side of the building, and so we went over there.  The lady opened the door, she seemed pretty nice and happy to see us.  She invited us to come over later that day when she had a little more time.  

Upon our return, we rang the bell of the house we visited and somebody opened up the door.  This time, the lady, with whom we talked to first and referred us to this apartment, opened up the door!  We looked around to see if we maybe accidentally rang the wrong apartment.  Sure enough, we were at the correct apartment, but the wrong person answered.  It was a strange experience.  The lady said, "Actually, I don't think that this person has any interest."  She wished us a good day and closed the door.  That was strange.

We returned a week or so later to see what was really up.  We rang, and we heard someone inside yell, "Nobody's Home!"  We took that as a sign that maybe this lady really didn't have any interest and left.  Later that night, we were talking to people on the street, and we found this lady again!  Not the crazy one that switched apartments, but the one who earlier seriously had some interest.  We asked her again what the deal was, and if she still had interest.  She assured us that she really does want us over, so we made out a new appointment and she was excited that we could come over again.  It rarely happens that people are excited to have us over, so we were looking forward to it.

We returned for the appointment that we made, but nobody answered.  It was a super weird thing, and we are not sure what's going on, but I think we are supposed to meet with this lady.  Why else would we make 2 different appointments out, and both times she wanted us to come back over?

Anyway, I am pretty excited for the coming week.  For Christmas we are going over to a member's house for dinner.  Germans celebrate Christmas on the 24th.  They have some interesting traditions that we have been doing.  For example:  the 4 Sundays before Christmas are called advent's.  There are 4 of them, and each of them represent something different.  Hope, Joy, Love, and something else that I forgot.  They have a wreath with 4 candles, and they light one candle each Advent.  By the time it is the 4th advent they have all 4 candles lit (that was yesterday)  Sometimes they have a 5th candle in the middle which represents Jesus Christ.  That Candle gets lit on the 25th.   

Christmas is also celebrated 3 days long.  The 24th is like our Christmas, called Heilig Abend (Holy Evening).  The day where presents are opened, and we spend time with family and stuff.  The 25th is the day of remembering Jesus Christ, and is called the erste Feiertag (first Holiday).  The 26th is also considered a holiday (zweite Feiertag or second holiday), but I'm not sure if there are any traditions attached to it.  It's probably simply a holiday for getting time off work or something.  

Germans also don't get a Christas tree until the 23rd, or at least they don't set up a Christmas tree until the 23rd.  They tend to leave it up longer though, probably until the 7th or January or so.

Well, have a great week!  I miss you all!

Sending my Christas love,

Snow!

Hey!

Yep, that's right.  This morning it was snowing.  I don't know if it is still snowing, but it probably is.  I am pretty excited!

This week was pretty cool.  I got better, so I am no longer sick.  That's always a plus.  The week went by pretty fast.  We had president interviews this week on Friday, and so that took the whole day. 

I can't remember anything I wanted to write.  That always happens!  I never have any cool stories because I forget them all before I write this email.  Maybe next week I can write this email first, then I won't forget everything.

We have many African investigators here in Hamburg.  It's pretty fun.  I had the opportunity to eat Foo Foo!  It's like this native dish to Guana, and you eat it completely with your hands.  It's some mixture of a special flour and water, then you put soup or something on it, and you eat it with your hands.  It's crazy.  Next week I'll get to eat more.  Haha.  Some Africans just love that stuff!

Well, here are a few pictures!  Have a great week!

Week 2 in the Second Largest City in Germany

Hey!

Actually, this week was a little crazy because I got sick.  So I couldn't do a whole lot.  I was dead all week.  I probably looked like a zombie as I knocked on doors and stuff!  Oh well.

I got to celebrate Thanksgiving twice though!  Once with my district, and once with my apartment.  It was cool.  We ate plenty, and we even found a turkey!  That's pretty hard in Germany! haha.  It was good.  I am excited for the coming weeks too.  I feel lots better today, and I am excited to start this week healthily.  I have (once again) a greater appreciation for my health.  Sometimes you don't know how awesome it is to not be sick until you get sick, haha.

I am pretty tight on time, so I don't know that I can write a whole lot more.  Next week I will probably write more! 

Alles Gute!  Bis dann!

I <3 Hamburg

Moin Moin!

It's nice to be back in this area again.  I must say I love Hamburg.  It's a nice city, and a lot of people are here.  I haven't been here for a week yet and I already love it.  I am excited to serve here.

So, this week was amazing.  On Tuesday I arrived here in Altona (a part of Hamburg), and we immediately took off for some appointments.  I met some cool people and was able to teach some lessons to our investigators.  Wednesday, we had district meeting, and that went really well.  We have a great district of 12 Missionaries!  It's really cool.  I enjoy having a big district with a lot of people.  We also have 4 Elders in our apartment.  That's crazy!  I sleep on the floor because we don't have enough beds, haha!  The apartment used to be the AP apartment before the Hamburg mission and the Berlin missions combined. 

The kids here are crazy too!  Today on the bus to go to write some e-mails, a bunch of kids got on the bus.  One of them, not older than 5, started talking with my companion.  This kid could speak German, English, and Italian!  Way awesome!  We talked to him a bit in German, a bit in English, and I said Arrivaderci to him as he left the bus (and of course he replied in Italian).  Talk about amazing. 

So many awesome things have been happening.  I just can't remember them all for some reason.  Oh yeah!  On Friday there was a piano concert at the stake center which is also in Hamburg.  We were invited to come because they planned on having a lot of people there that aren't members of the church, and they wanted us to be there so we can talk with them if they want to learn anything.  We arrived with an investigator and the piano player was amaying.  He was Russian, and I guess he won some sort of world competition.  Nobody asked us about the gospel, but Oh well.  I guess we got to see the concert!

I'm excited to serve here, and I hope to stay!  There are a lot of good people here! 

Have a wonderful week!

Ciao!

Zoom

Hey!

So the last week went by really fast.  I can hardly remember what we did!  We were going here, we were going there.  We found some new investigators, we talked with a lot of people.  It's so amazing sometimes how fast the time goes by.  There's also some other crazy news!  I am being transferred!  That's right!  I'm going to Hamburg! It's cool!  I have been hoping to go to Hamburg!  Now I just need to serve in Berlin, and I'm set!  So, without further ado here is my address so you can write me letters!

Osdorfer Landstrasse 17

22607 Hamburg

Germany

So... Don't hesitate.  Write now!  Haha, just kidding.  I guess you don't have to write me any letters.  It is coming up on Christmas time though, and letters don't hurt!

On Thursday my companion and I had the chance to do some work in a town called Osterode am Harz.  It is a super pretty place, and it's in our area.  We were trying to go to a member's house there, and we saw these old ruins from an old Forttress!  Awesome, right?  That's what the pictures is of, just in case you were wondering.

The week went by really fast and I don't know what more to tell you about!  I guess I will have plenty more next week no worries.  I am actually going to be serving with an Elder who was also trained by my trainer.  Pretty cool eh?  The apartment also has 4 Elders in it.  I am guessing that will just be a party everyday.  It will be hard to concentrate on studying and planning!

Well, Have a wonderful week! 

With Love,

One Year Later...

Hey!!!

Wow!  I can't believe I have been a missionary for over a year now.  It doesn't seem like that long.  Pretty soon I'll have been in Germany for more than a year, and then after that the time will just fly!  The time already flew, haha.

Last week, we made some pumpkin bread.  It was delicious.  I didn't have much time, so I spent 30 seconds carving a face on my pumpkin before I baked it.  It was funny because it's super simple, but probably better than a German carved pumpkin.  They aren't very creative when it comes to Halloween.  Bummer I know!  It's okay though haha.  They will learn ;).

After that we saw miracles!  After P-day, we went out to work and we did some doors.  The second door we rang let us in, and we had a great first lesson.  This lady was totally prepared!  We made out a new appointment, which she didn't make because she was sick.  We have another new appointment with her but it is after the transfer!  Transfer calls are on Saturday, so we'll see if I get to stay or not.  I hope so!  I like Goettingen.  At least there are some awesome members here, and I've worked so hard to find investigators.

The week went by super fast.  We had a companionship exchange on Tuesday, Wednesday we were in Hannover for a Zone Conference, Thursday we went to a city in our area called Osterode, Friday we had weekly planning, Saturday we had lots of people to visit, and Sunday was Stake Conference.  Crazy!  It doesn't even feel like it's been a week since I've written the last e-mail.

This morning, my companion and I decided to go take a bike ride in the woods near the city.  It was cool!  We found a big tower, and took a look at an old sun observatory.  It was a cool ride.  There were also many pretty trees.  It reminded me of Hope Valley!  I can't wait for the snow to start coming!

Well, enjoy your week.  Next week I'll give you my updated address so you can send me letters! ;)  I'm excited!

November weather, here I come!

P.S.  Oh yeah!  We also found a vending machine on the side of the street that sells "Frische Eier" (Fresh Eggs).  Super cool right?  I included a picture so you can see it!

Halloween!!!

Yay!

Today is Halloween!  Way fun right?  Well actually it's not really celebrated here in Germany.  It would be so much fun to be in the United States knocking on doors on Halloween night.  That would be hilarious!  I wish I could do it.  That's okay, I get to ring doorbells here in Germany instead!  It's cool that today is our P-day though.  We also will be able to bake some pumpkin bread, and hopefully do some other fun stuff as well.  We'll see!

The last week was pretty good!  It ended up being kind of crazy!  We were running around everywhere.  We were quite busy on some days.  Just yesterday, we rode a long distance on our bikes to visit an investigator in a far away town, and we couldn't visit him!  It was rediculous.  He told us we could come over on Sunday, but it ended up not working out.  Oh well, I guess it's good excercise.  That's missionary work for you ;).

The work is really picking up here! We are finding more people, we found a cool college dormitory where we talked with a bunch of people.  The students who are our ages seem to be the most open people!  They are open to accepting the gospel, and they are willing to learn more from us.  Not all of them want to continue meeting with us, but just to be exposed to the church in such a positive manner is excellent.

This coming week we have a Zone Conference, and the week after that we have transfer calls!  I can't believe another transfer is almost over!  Next transfer includes Thanksgiving, and Christmas!  The time is flying.  It seems like just the other week I was in the MTC celebrating Christmas.  Now, I am sitting in an internet Cafe in the middle of Germany! 

I hit the year mark last week!  I can't believe I'm already on the last half of the mission!  I feel like I just got here.  The time really is short.  Although, if you look at all my socks, you would think I have been wearing them for the last 6 years ;).  Your prayers are really appreciated, and I'm thankful for everything you guys do for me! 

Alles Gute!

Is there ever a dull week?

Hey You!!

Have you ever wondered if there are simply weeks that aren't very exciting?  Well, wonder no more!  There is always something exciting in every week.  The Lord doesn't waste his time we give him!  This week was no exception!

This week was a pretty cool week.  We did more teaching than normal, we were able to set a specific date for baptism with one investigator, and we were able to enjoy the cooler weather!  Unfortunately, it has warmed up this weekend, but it will definitely get cooler again. I must say, I love wearing a scarf.  You can't wear scarves in the USA like you can here.  You can see the picture of me, and my companion as an example!  I may have to bring the fashion of scarf wearing over to the USA (everybody wants to bring something from the culture of where they served over to the US, right?). 

There's actually a story to this picture.  I just happened to be wearing a scarf at the time! haha.  So we got a brand new bike this week because my companion's bike was unsafe to ride, and it would cost more than a new bike to repair!  So we were riding along, to go visit a member in the city and... my companion got hit by a car.  Bummer right?  He didn't get hurt, but the bike is once again... Kaput!  So... we have to travel with the busses.  The busses don't go everywhere at the most convenient times, so sometimes we have to ride a bus that is close to the area, and then just walk.  This was one of those cases.  We were walking along where we thought was right.  We noticed we needed to turn left, and didn't want to backtrack, so we found some farmer's road.  Usually these roads go all the way through, and so it wasn't really abnormal to take such a road.  We walked, and walked, and walked, just like the pioneers.  Then, we realized that the road just ends, and there is no way to make it accross the Autobahn to get to the place we wanted to go!  So, this was the walk back.  We laughed a lot over the fact that we went on this muddy famer's road to find out that there was no way to get to where we wanted to go.  I got mud all over my pants and shoes.  It was great. 

We then walked furthur to the closest bus stop.  The bus didn't come for another 20 minutes, so we decided to do some doors in the area.  We did doors, and guess what.  We made out a new appointment with somebody!  It was cool!  We then went back later that week, and they accepted to meet with us again!  Super cool!  So, I guess all that walking wasn't for nothing. :D

Okay, next cool story.  We were just studying and stuff in the morning like normal.  I believe we were studying up on our German at the time.  We then received a phone call!  I answered, and it was some lady who wanted to meet with us.  I took down her address and said we could come by the next day.  That was already awesome because I have never had somebody call ME to ask if we could meet before.  We went by to visit this lady and one of the first things she said was, "I used to be in the 'Pfings' church, but now I want to come to your church."  That's also something I have never heard!  Super crazy, but I'm not upset.  So that was super cool.  We plan on working more with this lady and helping her understand everything, and arrange for somebody to pick her up so she can make it to church! 

Well, that was the amazing week.  Or at least a couple highlights.  Have an excellent new week!  Enjoy the Fall!  I know I am!

Until next time!

I Welcome the Autumn Weather!

Hey!

Yes, it is true.  I am super happy to have the colder weather again!  I welcome the Autumn weather!  The cooler air, the rain, the gray skies.  They make me homesick--or perhaps they just make me snowboarding-sick!  That's okay. I have better things to concentrate on anyway.

So, I have a few things to tell about!  I missed writing about everything last week because I was a little bit caught up with the time.  So I will start with last week.  Last week, I spent a couple days in the city of Kassel.  I was there on a companionship exchange.  My district leader, who comes from Austria, decided to do something fun with me while we were on the streets finding people.  Instead of the normal way of talking to people, we decided to pick up a shoe box.  Elder Shaeffner, my district leader, called it "The Finding Box."  Basically, he would put something in the box, and I would not know what it is.  We would come up to somebody, tell them we have something in this box that can help people to strengthen their faith in Jesus Christ.  He would then open up the box, and I would have to somehow connect whatever was in the box with the gospel and turn it into some sort of lesson or ask if we can meet again another time to talk more about it.  It was crazy! I had a lot of fun with it.  I had not ever done something so on-the-spot in German before.  It really pushed me to use all of my German knowlege, gospel knowledge, and just crazy logic to do it.  It was definitely cool.

Later that day in Kassel, we had an eating appointment with a member family.  I found it super cool that the father of the family told me not only that I have good German, but that I have only a little American accent when I speak.  That was probably the coolest compliment I have received since I have been here in Germany. haha.

This last week, my companion and I were in a place called Moringen.  There is an investigator there, who is actually in some sort of correctional facility.  So, we were visiting him there.  He is really trying to become better so that he can be baptized.  He knows the church is true, and he also does his own missionary work!  It is amazing.  I have never met an investigator so strong as he is.  He isn't really our investigator, he lives in Stadthagen, but we are taking care of him while he is in this correctional facility within our area.  As we left this correctional facility, which we say is pretty much a jail, we realized we had to RUN or else we would miss our bus.  So, immediately as we got out the front door, we ran!  It was hilarious.  Just imagine two men wearing suits, running out of a jail, then running accross town and jumping on a bus.  I just thought it was hilarious.  I can only imagine what people were thinking when they saw us.

I am also super super super happy to report that one of our investigators accepted the invitation to baptism!  I am so happy for her.  It is the first time that I have had an investigator agree to be baptized!  Now we have the opportunity to talk more about baptism, and to prepare her to be baptized.  I know she is doing the right thing, and that she will definitely be blessed for making this decision.

Well, that was my wonderful week.  I hope that you also had a great week.  Have another great week this week!  

Bis dann,