Transfer 3, Week 1

Hello! This weeks has been crazy, but I think I say that every week. So, here’s what's new -- yes, there will be stories to go with all of these.

·      Got a new companion, Sister Ferris; from Spokane, Washington; 19 years old; long curly red hair, super sweet, super silly, and super dedicated.

·      Lost Sister Blackhurst to Coberg, in Bayern (the other side of the mission)

·      Survived my first three days as Senior companion in Wetzlar.

·      And discovered this morning that none of my old clothes fit anymore. I have officially lost 16.5 lbs. and I'm lucky to have bought 2 smaller skirts and some smaller garments because everything else just slides right off now. I'm wearing some of my old clothes today, and I am constantly hiking my pants back up.

Here are the stories.

Monday, we hung out with the Elders, even though sister Blackhurst normally didn't like to, but it was her last P-day in Wetzlar, so we had to. She and I went and did some shopping and just had a chill p-day. Then we met up with Dana at the Bahnhof (train station) and took a zug (train) to Gießen.  Dana (Day-nuh) is a visit canadian that we kind of helped reactivate- well.  She did most of it herself, but we were her support system after she came to church.  She's a really sweet girl, has a personality similar to mine- just a silly, fun loving, happy person.  She's 22, and graduated in Music theory, I believe (I know it was something to do with Music, I just can't remember exactly what). Anyway, we met up with her and rode to Gießen, where the Elders picked us up- they could do that because there were three of us - and we all went to FHE at the Titze's together, and it was a blast! I don't remember how it came up, but we started talking about personal revelation and patriarchal blessings, and we discovered that sister Titze doesn't have hers. We were all shocked. We all tried to convince here that she probably should get it, but she was pretty unconvinced that she absolutely needed to get it. So Elder Brandner told Bishop Maiser on Sunday, and we hope to convince her that getting a patriarchal blessing is a good and helpful thing. I'll keep you posted on that.

Tuesday, we had our last DDM as my original Wetzar District. it was really sad. We lost almost half of our district. We got pictures, so we can all remember everyone. It was a really powerful meeting because we had a testimony meeting. Oh, my word, you would not believe the spirit that was present. It was amazing. A couple of the Elders had been though some hard stuff- they didn't share specifics, but the bore very powerful testimonies on the enabling power of the Atonement. It was absolutely amazing the power they put behind their words. Even thinking back on it, I can feel the power that was present. I can't describe it very well, but it was incredible.

Later that evening we went to Tina's to share one last lesson with her before Sister Blackhurst left and to pick up sister Blackhursts scarf that she had unintentionally left there. She was very upset when she discovered that, and said that she had to get it before she left because it was a birthday gift from her mother. it was a nice scarf to. Tina was very sad to hear that SIster Blackhurst was leaving, but was consoled a little when she heard I would still be there. She told Sister Blackhurst that she was "Like my home-girl." and she could not, for the life of her, remember Sister Blackhursts name. She kept calling her something like beck-I don't even remember, but it was really cute.

Wednesday we went to the Temple. it was amazing, as usual with that. We used headsets and sis it in English. I could have done it in German, if I had wonted, but I wanted to get as much out of it as possible. It was really nice. We had an appointment with Wolfgang, and Sister Blackhurst told him she was leaving. Totally didn't register with him. He just sat there and stared at her. So she told him about 4 more times that she was being transferred to Coberg. Finally he realized that she was leaving and got really sad. It was quite painful to watch him and Tina say good-bye to her, and she almost started crying. Then we went and had a good-bye appointment with the Finds. it was a good lesson and evening. The Finds are wonderful. But it was hard to see them and Sister Blackhurst so sad to say goodbye. After we got home from the Finds, Sister Blackhurst still had some stuff to pack. So we ripped her bags apart, and she went through her clothes, and left about 1/3 of them behind so she could fit all of her souvenirs and stuff that she owned.

Thursday, nothing extraordinary happened. I just picked up Sister Ferris, and we came home and got her settled. We had a great time getting to know each other.

Friday was a normal day. We had studies, and weekly planning, and got to know each other more, and went dooring and exploring by the church, helping Sister Ferris get oriented. It was a good day, but it seemed to take FOREVER.

Saturday we did more dooring, exploring and finding, and got shut out. it was entertaining. But once again, it seemed to take FOREVER for the day to end.  we had an appointment with Wolfgang, but he called before and said he had to much to do and had to cancel. But then we saw him later on the bus, and he’s a little surprised to see Sister Ferris and not Sister Blackhurst. He tried to call her by her first name when he asked about her and I was like "She's still sister Blackhurst." yeah, he's a funny man.

Sunday was a good day. Dana borrowed the car from her host family and then asked us if we wanted a ride. So we got some additional study in before she came to get us. it was really nice not to have to rush for the bus on Sunday morning. For relief society, I got to practice my language skills and translate everything for Dana because she still can't quite do German. it was really fun, but made me a little tired. But it was nice to get to practice.

After church we had a dinner appointment with Familie Newsom. I had never spoken to either of them before, so this was a nice opportunity to get to know more of the ward. They are so funny. She had to show us some of the tricks her cat can do, and Brother Newsom was constantly making faces and speaking in weird voices. It was hilarious!

So, one of the things Sister Blackhurst left was a little book about the size of a 3X5 card, and about 150 pages thick (give or take). It is full of inspirational stories, and is just wonderful. So, during studies, I took it out and started reading. I found a really cool story called "The file room." it under thousands of different categories from his life, such as songs listened to, friends, friends betrayed, things yelled at brothers, and everything else you can think of. Each card is signed in his handwriting. As he goes through the files, he becomes ashamed, and decides to destroy the room. but he can't. So he breaks down crying. Then the Savior comes in, and goes through the files, and the missionary becomes even more ashamed. Then the Savior come over and cries with him and then proceeds to write his name over the missionaries name on the cards.

This story really hit me because it shows that the savior took responsibility for all of our actions -- the good, and the bad. He took our pain, and our happiness. He basically switched places with us. This is how we are made perfect, and it's amazing.

It's been a good week, with more to come. Can't wait to hear from you next week!

-Sister Montgomery

I saw Bambi! (January 12, 2015)

Hello, all.

Well. This week has gone by SO fast, and it seems like we did nothing, but we actually had a couple of little adventures. I can't remember everything, and I unintentionally left my other planner at home, so I have no reference, unfortunately. So this may not be as good as some of my others, but I will make up for it next week by writing an extra good letter.

So, here goes. 

Basically the whole first half of the week is in a fuzz, because it went really fast, and was basically the same as it has been the last couple weeks. So nothing new there. We got stood up by Tina, had a couple good lessons with Wolfgang, and continued New Year’s resolutions. I ran about a Kilometer this morning, (and by ran, I mean I jogged, not sprint or walk). Sister Blackhurst and I have had good Morgan Sport (morning exercise session) and went running almost every day this week. Except when it was raining. Then we did body weight workouts in the house. It was actually pretty great. I have noticed some changes in my body from eating good, exercising good regularly, and from having to do 3 flights of stairs every day. I can officially say that I can make it up 2 flights and only be a little winded. And I run up them, too! AND. I've officially lost 15lbs since coming to the field. I'm pretty proud of myself. 

Also, I'M GETTING A NEW COMPANION!!

Transfer calls were on Saturday, and Sister Blackhurst got called to Coburg, Bayern as an STL(Sister Training Leader), and I am to remain here in Wetzlar with Sister Ferris. She's been out a transfer longer than I have, and seems like a really cute girl. She's a redhead, and looks athletic. I haven't met her yet, so you will get more details on this next week.  I'll see if I can send pictures too. I feel really bad that my camera is so stupid. I may just need to get a new one. We'll see.

Friday was super eventful. Not really. We did studies as usual, and then went to go find a sister who is less active because of health issues named marlies (Mar-lease). She had been in the ICU at the hospital since I came because she had a seizure right before I got here, and then they moved her to a rehab home in Gießen. So Friday, we went to go find the home. We did that easy enough, we had the Navi (GPS), and it was just a forever and a half walk. So then we went inside. It was SCARY. Like, seriously, it felt like a mental hospital. There were people in wheelchairs, and straightjackets, making weird noises, and I think there were even a couple padded rooms. But then the workers told us that Marlies was in the Wetzlar Hospital. So we leave, and head to the hospital back here in Wetzlar. The secretaries (all three of them) looked in the system, and said that she wasn't there. We told them that the home said she was supposed to be there for a week. So then they had to call the home, just to sort things out. Nobody knew where she was, or where she was supposed to be. It was nuts. We didn't end up finding her, and we had a termin (appointment) with Wolfgang that we had to get to (which was all over the place. all three of us were so scatterbrained), and then we tried to go by on a Less Active in Wetzlar, but couldn't get to her house because the busses were all messed up. And it was raining, so that was fun. (Not really!) So, then we went home, had some cocoa and went to bed. All in all, it was a pretty weird day. We did a lot of running around, and didn't seem to get a whole lot done. It was ein bissien nerfing (a little frustrating).

We had another fun little escapade on Saturday. We went to go visit a less active in der pampa (in the boondocks) of Marburg. We took the train out to see a couple of other LA in Wetzlar and Dutenhofen before and it was raining, and windy. Just a drizzle, really, but it still was not my favorite because the wind was, like, hurricane status. We just missed the train we wanted heading out to Marburg so we had to wait half an hour for the next one. Then our train got delayed, so we got to sit in the cold for an extra ten minutes. While we were waiting a train came by at over 100 MPH, the driver laying on the horn for some reason and it scared us both half out of our minds. Then we started talking about which way we would run if the train had tipped off the tracks to make the time go a little bit faster. Then it took us almost an hour to get out there once the train came. So we get to the Marberg train station then we had to walk 45 min to get to her house because there was no bus that went out that way. Like I said, she lives out in the boonies. Literally. Man, was that an adventure. Our Navi (GPS) kept telling us we were going the wrong way. It supposedly took us on the "fastest route" to her house but it was like a trail in the middle of the wood, and I swear it was all uphill. And then it started pouring rain and I had forgotten my umbrella so we squished under Sister Blackhursts. Then the Navi took us through a cemetery. BY this time it was about 5:30 and getting dark. Thankfully, we both had a little flashlight that we carry around so we had those for light until the batteries died. And at this point we were super muddy and wet and cold, but we couldn't go back yet, because we actually had a set termin (appointment)  at six. So we finally made it to her house and she wasn't even there! So then we tried calling her. And she didn't answer. Sister Blackhurst was not happy. So then we walked back to the train station in the pouring rain but this time we decided to take the longer way home though the city because we didn't want to walk through the cemetery again. It was like one of those moments where you really want to cry and feel sorry for yourself but you had to laugh because it was just SO ridiculous!  Also, we saw a deer, while we were trying to find her house. It just came out of the woods, and was wondering though people driveways and yards in front of us.  It was so cool!

Sunday, Sister Blackhurst got to bare her testimony because she'S being transferred, and she was super nervous. After church one of the members, Brother Gentile (Jen-teal-ay) was talking to Sister Blackhurst, telling who to visit in Coburg (his daughter lives there), and then the member we were going to lunch with came over and say "Brother, the sisters are hungry, let them come with us so we can feed them:" So we went to lunch with the Merkels- active members. They live out in der Pampa also, but they have a car, so it wasn't so bad. The weather was like, doing a weird combination of rain/sleet/hail on the ride over after church. They took us through Weilberg- a down that goes over the Fluss River, and has so much history. There were a couple castles, and some really cool runes. They drove us through the historical part and gave us a mini-tour. Then we went to their house and had lunch. We had soup, and potato/chicken salad. It was really yummy. Then we gave our spiritual thought on the first lesson, and how to use Preach My Gospel, and challenged them to study PMG, and they agreed. Then the almost didn't know what to do with us. So we asked them question. We learned that Bro Merkel wasn't born in the church, which he investigated for 7 years before he was baptized, and that Sis. Merkel is from Holland. That was a fun tidbit of information to gather. Then Sis. Merkel gave us a tour of her house, which was actually pretty big for being a German home (they're usually pretty small). The basement/storage area was like a hobbit hole-short and wide. We had to bend over while we were down there, and you know that I'm not the tallest person. And then the house just got taller and taller the higher you got until the ceilings were about 8 ft. high on the 4th and final floor. it was really nice. After the tour, they took us back to Weilberg, and we walked around the palace. It was gorgeous! I wish I could send pictures, because Sister Blackhurst got some phenomenal pictures of the place. We spent about half an hour in Weilberg, and then they took us home. And the rest of the evening was a quiet one at home finishing studies. 

That was about my week. Hope everyone is happy, and well. 

Remember: Every cloud has a silver lining- but you have to face the storm to see it.

-Sister Montgomery

A new year has come (January 5, 2015)

To Family, beloved friends, and everyone else

This year and week have gone abnormally fast.

Last Monday Sister Blackhurst and I took a visiting Canadian to FHA (famile heim abend or Family home evening) with us at the Titzes. She's really nice, and was apparently inactive before she came to Germany. Her name is Dana (Day-nuh), and she came to Germany to visit friends, and get away from life at home. She's from a really small town in Alberta, I believe, is 22 years old, graduated in Music, and didn't know what to do next, so she decided to visit an exchange student her family had a few years ago. She had been here in Germany for a month, and randomly decided to go to church after being basically inactive for over a year. We were really excited when she came, and have just been her friends, and decided to invite her to FHA, and she asked yesterday if that was every week. We told her yes, but that we switched off every other week with the Elders, and asked if she wanted to go with them. She said yes. So we called the Elders and asked if they would escort her to the Titzes. The agreed, and so she's going to FHA tonight for the 2nd week in a row. We're super excited for her.

Last Tuesday we had DDM. It was on New Years resolutions because it was the penultimate day of 2014.  We had a lot of fun discussing what goals we were going to set for the New Year, and helping others tweak their goals according to what they wanted to accomplish. It was very entertaining, especially when Elder Windhorse (a cowboy from New Mexico) pulled out a story on finishing what you've started. The story was of his first cattle run at age 11. His dad woke him up at 3 a.m. and told him to unload salt licks (1 foot cubes of salt for cattle) out of a trailer that were 10 high and 40 deep in the trailer. He got about 1/4 done, and decided to take a nap and didn't get to go on the cattle run because of it. He has since learned from that that you finish what you start, and leave your mark so people know you did a good job.

Wednesday was not normal. We had to be in by 1800 (6:00 p.m.) so earlier, Sister Blackhurst and I had gone to the Church to download some podcasts from the "enduring it well" section of the Mormon Channel, and we listened to about 4 of these hour long podcasts. They were actually pretty interesting. We listened to one on overcoming anorexia and bulimia, one on a mother who’s son had turrets syndrome (trials unseen), one on the Haiti earthquake in 2010, and I don't remember what the other one was about. But they were good. Then we went to bed at the usual time. And were woken up an hour and a half later to bombs going off right outside our window. I'm just kidding, they were fireworks. It was ridiculous. There was so much smoke mixed with fog, the street looked like a battlefield. Smoke was everywhere and you could hardly see anything. It was nuts! And then Wolfgang called us. He wished us a happy New Year, and we reminded him we had a Termin (appointment) at 1600 (4:00) on Saturday. He thought we said 5:00 for a minute, but we got it straightened out. But, man, was it NUTS outside. People were whooping, and shouting, and shooting off fireworks. It was crazy worse than in the US. Americans don't make it as big a deal as Germans do.

Thursday we had a really good member lesson with Bishop and Sister Meiser (My-zer). Once again we talked about New Years Resolutions (It's kind of been our theme for the last week), and I told them about my "no sugar" spree. I told them I was going the whole year, but I think I'm only going to go for 11 months (2 weeks at the end of December off, and 2 weeks worth through out the rest of the year). But, Bishop Meiser was so funny about it. He wouldn't drop it. He asked me a couple times if I was sure this was what I wanted to do, and then asked if I wanted some sugar free water. He even covered my eyes when SIster Meiser pulled out some other treats (marshmallow, gummy bears, and other goodies). It was really funny. After the Meisers we had a short termin with a less active that lives about a 20-minute walk from our house. It was really nice, but kind of awkward. It was mostly a "Hi, nice to meet you, can we make an appointment?" type deal, but it was fun, and interesting,

Friday, we had another really nice member lesson with Famile Schmitd, and the lesson was once again on New Years resolutions. Big surprise there, right? After the lesson, we made Pizza doe lunch, and then played Phase 10" for a while. it was really fun. They have a daughter who's on her mission in England right now. She left, like, 2 weeks after I got to the field. She's a really nice girl, and her mom (a really nice Danish woman) says that her younger sister, Jamie, is always saying, "Why can't we just call them? I need my sister!" and stuff like that. It's really cute, and they're a wonderful family.

Saturday, we had a really good, kind of crazy appointment with Wolfgang. It was kind of all over the place, but we emphasized that baptism, reading the Book of Mormon, and coming to church are really, really important, and he said that he's try harder. Could you pray for him that he will be able to make a decision soon? Sister Blackhurst and I really feel like he's ready and just lolly gagging or something. He did tell us that reading the Book of Mormon, and being baptized were some of his New Years Resolutions, so, we're excited about that.

Sunday, our dinner appointment with the Finds fell out. But, the family who was feeding the Elders, the Gentiles (Jen-teal-ays) said that we could come over, too. We didn't ask or anything, they just randomly came up to us after church and were like "you're coming to eat with us." it was really nice, and even funnier. We helped prep the food and everything, and then they fed us heaping bowls of pasta. it was really good, but after we finished our first bowl, Sister Gentile asked "are you done, already?" Sister Blackhurst and I both said "yes," and I just sat there thinking, "That was a lot of food." I don't think I've thought that in a while. I think I may have successfully shrunk my stomach a size :D Then we went home and did studies, and had a quest evening at home. We also listened to another podcast. Sister Blackhurst was like "I wish we had some popcorn. This is like reality TV for missionaries." she's so cute! It was really fun. 

It's been a good week. It went by really fast. I have a feeling that 2015 will follow the same trend. See you all in just over a year. 

Remember to eat your veggies and smile. I love you!

-Sister Montgomery 

Frohe Weihnachten! (December 29, 2014)

HELLO ALL!!

Well, another week has gone by, this one including the milestone of my first Christmas away from home in another country. It was really cool to see the traditions of another culture for their Christmas celebration.  I'll tell you about them in a minute.

So Monday we had a double lesson with Wolfgang (WOlf-gong) and Hans (pronounced like "Prince Hans" in Frozen) at Moo's. It's always really hard to teach at the Cafe because of all the people coming in and out, but somehow we manage to help the spirit get through to them. Hans has a lot of questions. We talked about plural marriage and how it was a commandment, but that it's not anymore. it was actually a rather interesting topic of discussion.

Tuesday, we had DDM in Wetterau. I gave a Theme on obedience, because that was our most common topic at ZoKo last week. it actually went a lot better than I had planned, which was nice, because I actually really hadn't had anything planned. I forgot I had a Theme until we were on the train. But I had paid good attention at Zone Konferenz, so the Spirit and I both had something to work with. It was actually really fun to do it on the spot like that. Not something I would recommend, though. After DDM, Sister Blackhurst and I went over to the TItze's and practiced "Mary, did you know?" for our Gemeinde Weihnachten Pary (Ward Christmas party) it felt like we spent forever perfecting it, but we did just that, and it turned out beautiful on Wednesday.

Wednesday we had full studies, which is always nice. I learn a lot, and have been keeping a study journal of all the things I learn, specifically during personal study. It's fun to go back through my notes and learn more stuff from what I've already learned. We had invited Wolfgang to come to Heilige Abend at Familie Sertels, but he called and canceled because he had to work.

We had the Gemeinde party at 1500 (3:00). It was 45 minutes, and we got there about 45 minutes early to run through songs one last time before the program. It was really cool and the Spirit was really strong because of all the scriptures and songs involved. I don't remember them all, but I know it was really cool, and super fun.

After the Gemeinde party, we went home with Familie Sertel and Familie Schneider came as well for Heilige Abend at the Sertels. It was really nice. We had potato soup, wild pig, star shaped knoodle (ck-noodle) and rot kohl. It looked so nice, we didn't want to eat it. Seriously, it looked like when Danika is playing and makes it look like a 5 star restaurant. it was wonderful. Then, as nachtish (nahck-tish (like fish with a T) meaning dessert) we had chocolate mousse with whipped cream and Johannes berries (red current berries) sprinkled with sugar so it looked like snow. it was gorgeous, and tasted even better, and it was eck-German, too.  Then, B. Sertel went into the family room and set up the presents and was really cute when he was trying to get us to go in. the believe that the Christ-kind brings the presents and then rings a bell, when he leaves, so B. Sertel keeps saying "was that a bell? I think the Christ Kind came." it was really funny. So we finally went in after the Grandfather clock sounded, and he was like "Everyone heard THAT bell." they divied out presents and they even had a present for each of the missionaries, which was doch nice (Doch is an emphasizer). It was really fun to watch them all get excited about their presents. The Sertels gave sister Blackhurst and I each a nice moleskin with 2 nice pens, a pad of paper, and a box of nice chocolates with nits and fillings. it was so nice, and wonderful. They spoiled us.

Christmas was spent with Familie TItze, and the Elders. We had breakfast at 9, it was French toast, my favorite breakfast on the planet, and then we did presents. The two girls each got about 20 presents each, some of which were really big, which is not surprising seeing as they're the only children they have, but they were wonderful enough to get us some presents as well. The Elders got a 24 pack of root beer and a one person roclette (a little grill and it's really cool, I'll see if I can bring one home and teach you all, because it's really yummy and you can experiment all you want. I think it's a new favorite) Sister Blackhurst and I got matching thermal leggings and a scarf, and then we each got a present suited to our personality. Sister Blackhurst got lotions and shower creams and stuff, and I got 2 CDs: the Piano Guys 2 and die Eiskönigin (frozen in German). I don't remember what the Elders got, but the CDs basically made my week. We had Roclette for lunch, and then we watched Frozen because we were allowed to watch one Disney movie, and Sister Blackhurst and Elder Brandner had not yet seen Frozen. Sister Blackhurst had told me before that I could not sing along out loud to all the songs, and I successfully restrained myself.

After the Titize's we headed over to the church to Skype, which was the highlight of my week, and my year XD after Skype the bus never came, so we literally had to run home to get the cake we had backed for Tina, and then head over to her house. Tina's birthday is the 25 of December, that’s why we had a cake. We went on had a small lesson with her about the plan of salvation and how cool it is we have the opportunity to come here to earth. It was fun, Tina's a character.

Friday, we went over to Familie Finds and met with Shelbey the foreign exchange from Texas. We had Roclette for dinner again, and it was kind of funny when sister Find found out. She was a little disappointed. After dinner we had a really spiritual lesson on the restoration and the Book of Mormon, and gave her a Book of Mormon in English. I could tell she could feel something, but wasn't quite sure what it was, and that she is sincere about learning more about the Church. We also showed her the Mormon Message where elder Holland talks about how Joseph and Hyram wouldn't just throw their lives away for something they'd made up on a whim. It was pretty powerful.

Saturday was back to normal; we had an appointment with Wolfgang. He had gotten a book somewhere with information about us, and he was smart about the misinformation in there. He came to us and asked, "what's going on? is this true?" and then we read the book together (It wasn't very big) and answered his question. it was actually a really cool and engaging lesson.

Sunday, we went to Familie Titze's for lunch and had Roclette again. I think I'm roclette-ed out for a while. Then Sister Blackhurst and I shared a spiritual thought on how we can set goals to better ourselves and how New Years Resolutions can help with that; this turned into a really great discussion about goals and habits, and it was very insightful. I think I may be able to reach more of my goals this next year than I have in years past.

Oh! It snowed Saturday. 12 hours straight. We have about 1.5-2 feet of snow, and it is cold. Saturday, Sister Blackhurst and I did some go-byes over by the church, and then the busses stopped coming and we had to walk home. When we got home we were frozen. Sister Blackhursts toes had no feeling, and were white in places. I had her put them in cold water to warm them up, and then we slowly increased the temperature. It was terrifying. We were both scared she was going to lose her toes.

On that happy note, I love you all, and hope you have a happy New Year!

Sister Montgomery

"Guys. my pants are stuck to my leg."(December 22, 2014)

Froh Weihnachten! (Happy Holy Night!)

WHOA! December's basically over!

What on earth happened to the week? And the transfer! We started week 4 of 6 this week. Man, time is just flyin' right by us.

So, crazy story of the week: I almost died. And I wasn't even in my area. I'll tell you about it in a minute because it happened on Friday, and I have to go through the rest of the week first.

Monday, we went to FHE with Famile Titze. They are wonderful. we were the only ones there, none of the JAEs were there, unfortunately. The lesson was in German and about which of the Christmas story characters are our favorite. I had never really thought about it before, But Joseph is a pretty cool guy. I mean. He’s about 17 years old, engaged, and his fiancée gets pregnant. An angel tells him to marry her anyway, so he does, and then raises the child as his own. That takes a lot of faith, trust and strength. The wise men were pretty cool, too. Brother Titze says they were probably prophets from, like, the east, or Europe or Asia or something like that. Maybe even from America. Wouldn’t that be cool?

Tuesday, we had an appointment with Ulla one of our investigators, but we had to reschedule her for Friday, because we were going caroling with the Youth (we were invited by the Joung Damens president, Sister Schmidt) not a lot happened that day, but it was still a good day.

Wednesday we had our usual studies and then had a lesson with Wolfgang and one of his friends Hans. With Wolfgang we talked about the importance of acting to find answers, and how he needs to read out of the Book of Mormon. After our lesson, Hans leaned over and said, "I have a couple questions for y9ou about the Mormons. You don't drink coffee, do you?" so we had and took the opportunity to teach him a little about the Word of Wisdom. He seemed very interested. He’s a very active Roman Catholic, but I think with a little help he will be set down the right path. We pray for him and Wolfgang everyday.

Thursday was Zone conference. Started at 10:00 ended about 4:00, took us 2 hours to get there, and we got to ride an ICE (first class, VERY nice train). it was crazy cool to have a 6 hour conference where the spirit was so strong. I got 6 pages of notes (front and back). It was amazing because I learned so much. I don't have my notes with me, so, unfortunately, I can't give particulars. Just know, it was a lot like General conference, where I learned about 20 zillion new things every talk, and loved every minute of it.

Friday was an adventure. so, we had studies. We went by Tina, who is a character and a wonderful lady. Have I told you about Tina? Then we had our appointment with Ulla at 2:30. it takes about an hour to get to her house which is in a suburb of Brounfels, and we were taking a slightly different route to her house than the one we took last time, so we left a little early. On the way there, the bus strangely reached the end of the line and turned around. Sister Blackhurst and I were both confused, so we umsteiged (oohm-sh-tye-ged= to get off, or exit) and decided to use our new Navi to get to her house (Navi=GPS; our old one broke, so we got a new one at ZoKo). so we pulled the Navi out. (It’s been overcast and kind of cloudy/rainy the last month or so, and it was raining really hard on Friday). so, we head off down the highway in the middle of a rainstorm, trying not to let the Navi get ruined, or slip in the mud, as well as follow the darn thing which was being stupid because it "couldn't find satellite connection." (Yeah, right). we walked for about 15-20 minutes down the highway, and then this old man and his granddaughter pulled up beside us and asked if we were headed to Bonbaden (the town where Ulla lives) and if we wanted a ride.  If it had been just the man, or just the girl, we probably would have said "no," but sister Blackhursts feet where hurting (she broke them both in Chear) and so we accepted. it was another 10 minute drive, and then they dropped us off near Ullas house. it was quite the adventure.

Friday, still- after our appointment with Ulla we had to head to Frankfurt to make a split. I went to Wiesbaden (Vs-bodn) with Sister Brown and Sister Eshemann, a 25 year old from France. (Mom, have you asked Jeff which base he was on when he was here, yet? I really want to know). the Zone leaders, Elders Noorda and Anderson were there as well, because they all had had MLC Friday. so, I went with the four of them to GMi-Co (Gemeinde missions coordination) and it was really cool. we almost didn't make it on time. the appointment was at 7:00, we didn't get there till about 7:10, just because of the travel time and timing of the split and everything. We had dinner there, a simple meal of bread, cheese, and meat. it was actually really good. Brudder Möller, the GML for the Wiesbaden German Ward told us, like, 3 really long stories while we were there. by this point it was about 9:45. About his point he leaves the room to ask his wife a question, and Elder Noorda asks Elder Anderson how bad it is. He says, "My pants are stuck to my leg," and has a look of complete horror on his face. Apparently he has a scar on his leg that likes to bleed when he gets agitated. So, then they had GMi-Co still about 10:15, and we left. the weather was cold enough we had to wait for the windshield to un-fog before we could go. Elder Noorda said a prayer of thanks before we left and asked that we would make it home safe. it was at this point they told us that the car was basically running on fumes. the " low fuel" light had been blinking since they picked me up in Frankfurt, and we'd driven for an hour to get to the Möllers. so we all immediately started praying that we'd be able to make the 20 minute drive back to Wiesbaden. Elder Anderson turned off the heat, and rolled down the window so we could conserve gas, and thankfully the ride was mostly down hill. So, Elder Anderson put the car in Nutral and we all prayed that the traffic signals would be timed so we didn't need to come to a complete stop on the way. Everything worked out, we made it back to the apartment okay, but we had to call President Stoddard to let him know we weren't going to be home until after 10:30, and ask if he knew where open gas stations would be.  That’s okay. We made it fine. it was quite the cold, wet adventure day, Friday.

Saturday was much less eventful, thankfully. We had studies, did a couple go-byes on people who had moved, and then headed to Frankfurt to split back. After we split back, Sister Blackhurst and I headed to an appointment with Wolfgang and Hans. We talked more about the little lings in our religion with Hans, more on the Word of Wisdom, and a bit on the restoration, which I think it's good for Wolfgang to hear these things as well. Maybe the 2nd time though he'll understand more.

Sunday was your typical Missionary Sunday. We got up, got ready, and then headed to church. After church, we practiced our songs with Sister Titze for the Ward Christmas party on the 24th. We (the 4 missionaries) are singing the German version of "With wondering awe", and the Sister Titze, sister Blackhurst and I are singing "Mary did you know?" in English. I wrote an alto part, but haven't had a ton of time to practice, so it's still a little shaky. But I should be able to do it with a little more practice. We’re meeting with Sister Titze tomorrow to practice, and a little before the party on Wednesday for the same reason. It’s going to be fun. I'm excited. ANYWAY. Man, I get side tracked easily. So after that rehearsal, we had Gemeinde Rat (ward counsel) and then went to dinner with Famile Frome (Froh-muh). We got there about 2:30-2:45-ish, and played games like "war," "Make 'n' break," and "Jenga" with the 13-year-old granddaughter, Vikki, for about 1.5 hours. Then we had our dinner at 4, and our spiritual thought at 4:45. Then Brudder Frome took us home. It was crazy, but super fun. We shared the Book of Mormon Christmas Story in 3 Nephi 1:13,14,19-21, and how cool it is to know that even the people on the other side of the world from where he was born knew when Christ was born.  Kind of crazy but shows you the power of God.

Many adventures and miracles happened this week. The power of God is real, and influences even the smallest details of our lives. I hope you all realize that God lives you, and just wants to help you be happy. Remember to let him.

Sister Montgomery.