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