Guten Abend von Deutschland!(Good Evening from Germany!)
So, this week has been a blast! I’ll start with Monday, last week, since I didn't get to email last Wednesday as per my usual stunt. Here goes.
Monday. Wow. A whole week ago. Feels like 6 weeks. So last week was weird, because we didn’t know whether or not it was "P-day." so we did our laundry and emailed a few people, trying to coordinate calling times for our 4 turned 6.5 hour layover in Dallas. (that's another story I will tell in just a minute). so then after emails and everything we went to class as usual, except that our teachers had both been stolen by the new batch of Germans that came in the Wednesday before, so both our teachers were subs. one of them was a German teacher, Brüdder Bratsman, super funny, small man, recently returned from the Frankfurt Germany mission (like 4 months ago), still gets like a little school girl when he talks about his mission -- most hilarious thing ever! so, yeah, he was our teacher for the afternoon, and then evening rolls around, and we have a teacher from the Loation speakers. He was a really funny guy, super good attitude. I think his name was, like, Murkel, or Marley, or something like that, I don’t remember. He went to Sacramento, California, Loation and I think Mong speaking, or some other obscure Asian language. he was really cool, though. I just can’t remember the details of our conversation. I should have written it down. Oh, well. He gave us lots of great mission advice, Brüdder Bratsman did, too. I wrote a lot of it down, but I don't have me notebook with me. Yep. To bad. I'll put it in my journal and tell you all about it later. I do remember he asked Sister Johnson (who's from Minnesota) if she new an Alexander LaDuke. I got super excited when it registered that I knew Alex. Apparently this teacher was his companion while on his mission. Talk about it being a small world.
Tuesday and Wednesday were the longest days of my life! Tuesday we had to be AT the travel office by 3:35am, (which meant getting up at about 2:30 to get ready), then we took a bus to the train station, then a train to the airport, then waited behind security for about an hour. then took a 4 hour flight to Dallas, where we would have had a 4 hour layover, but our plane was late from Japan for some reason, and so we were delayed by about 2.5 hours. I really enjoyed talking to Mom, and Shar, and I would have called the rest of you, but my phone cards ran out and I didn’t know your numbers. I do know that we probably get to Skype for Christmas, though :D So we boarded our flight, which I think was about 8.5 to 9 hours. I ended up sleeping most of it (about 6 hours), but I heard of a lot of the other missionaries who only got about half an hour of sleep. I felt really bad for them. The Assistants to the President, Tech elders and President and Sister Stoddard were all at the airport to pick up the 26 new Goldens arriving. That's right. We're not "Greenies," we're "Goldens." no, I don’t know the story behind that. I'll have to ask, see if anyone knows. Any-hoo. The rest of the day was really slow, just interviews and orientation and the like. All the leaders were telling us not to fall asleep because we'd adjust to the time zone better if we had lots of water (which is all carbonated here, by the way), and then went to bed right after we were allowed to, which was about 6:30 that we got to the hotel. it was a Holiday Inn Express, Mom!! It was really weird, just because everything was European and not American, like I'm used to. But it was so cool!
Thursday we had our "Pairing meeting" where we met our trainers. I was one of the last to be paired. I was so excited I shot up out of my chair, shouted "HI!" across the room and waved to my new companion. Everyone laughed at me but they all just wish they were as cute as me. My companion is Sister Blackhurst from Highland, Utah, yes, she's American. Pretty blonde, 20 years old, I'm her 2nd Golden in 2 transfers, she's been out about 9 months, and I’m really happy she's my companion ;D After the Pairing Meeting we went to the train station and waited for everyone else transferring to arrive, and then everyone went on their way. So, all 26 new Goldens are scattered throughout the mission, which is kind of sad that half our MTC zone is in Berlin and the other half is just scattered on the wind. oh, well. I'll get over it. Maybe . . .
Anyway, Nicht wichtig (not important) We had a Termin (appointment) with our investigator Wolfgang to go with us to the Leavers Testimony Meeting that night, but he stood us up because he had to work at the Uni in the next town over, Gießen (Geeson) where one of my Golden buddies, Elder Awerkamp, and his companion Elder Brandnar (our district leader) are assigned. I tell you this because its comforting to know that someone I am a friend with is at least semi-close (15 minutes by train). Anyway, Wolfgang stood us up, and then we saw one of his friends, and he told us that Wolfgang would be at the bakery in about 20 minutes. He told us this about an hour after our Termin. it was frustrating.
Friday we had studies, which combined with lunch took until about 1, then we went out and did some finding activities while we waited for our appointment with Michael to come around. he stood us up, too. We were headed home to pick some things up before we headed to another Termin, and we saw him standing outside the Bahnhoff. Once again, it was frustrating. But we made another appointment for later this week. I'll let you know how everything goes next week. ('ll probably be emailing about the same, just so you know, Mom). Later that night, we met this man, older, seemed really nice. He recognized Sister Blackhurst from weeks ago, and was looking for her other Golden, Sister Shurts, who was transferred (luckily). it was really creepy, though, because he tried follow us home. He was on his bike, though, so we gave him the slip by cutting across the grass and into a grocery store. we felt pretty clever.
Saturday was more finding activities. We had a Termin with Diana, a woman from Africa. Super nice, openminded, religious, totally ready for the gospel. The only thing is -- she smokes. that's okay. We'll help her with that, and so will God. I've been praying for all our investigators the last few days. I have yet to see if my prayers are helping, but that's what patience is for.
Sunday was probably the most stress filled day of the week. Our dinner Termin was die Famile Lange, who have a 4 year old Milo, and 2 year old Lucy, and BOTH Brüdder and Schwester Lange speak perfect English. He does because he served his mission in England, and she went to BYU-I for a few years. all of our appointments have been in English, just because all of our Untersuchers (Investigators) speak English, and so we teach them in English. Slightly frustrating, but I'll find other ways to practice my German. And I have been praying for help, too.
So, yeah. it’s been a good, long, tiring week, but that’s to be expected of missionary work.
I don't have any pictures this week because my memory card doesn't fit into a card reader, and I'm unsure if there's a card slot on the computer. we're in an Internet Cafe right now. It's pretty cool. Sorry, Mom. I'll see what I can do to change the "no pictures" status.
I love you all. Keep working hard with those beautiful smiles of yours all over your beautiful faces.
Sister Montgomery
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