Christmas Time in Germany (December 15, 2014)

Hello!

So, this week's been crazy, and fun.

 We had a lesson with Wolfgang last Monday at Moo's to take him to FHE at the Sertels, but he said he needed to study for his exam and that there was someone coming over to his house to study with him. His exam is for his Drs liscence and is on Jan 14. He's really scatterbrained because of it, and is working a lot. FHE was fun, as always because after the lesson is over, we have about an hour to eat dinner and just socialize and get to know the ward members. It's still kind of hard to understand people, but it's slowly getting better. Sister Blackhursts 21 Birthday was on Sunday, so when we got to Moo's Wolfgang broke out a planner, and a little chocolate Santa for her. It was SO CUTE!

Tuesday I had my 2nd split where I was in charge. It actually turned out really well. Sister Blackhurst and I had planned for about 3 to 4 termins, and we got to all of them over the 24-hour period I was with Sister Taylor. We visited Ulla, our investigator, and Sister Kramer, a less active, and the lessons went really well. Sister Kramer was in the hospital, so we didn't get much time with her, but we did have some fun trying to understand her German lisp, and we figured out why she was in the hospital in the first place: she'd had Pneumonia. So after we were on our way out, we were talking to a woman from Kazikstan in the elevator, and she offered us a ride home. We told her we could take the bus, and gave her a card with our number instead. It was actually quite funny.

Wednesday we went up to Aßlar and visited another investigator, Lena, and left a Liahona, Joy to the World, and our card with her. She works at a hair salon- which she owns- and was doing someone’s hair while we were there, so we tried not to stay to long. Then we were supposed to split back at, like, 4, so we headed to the church, and then didn’t have keys so we ended up freezing for about 1\.2 an hour before Elders Awerkamp (hour-camp) and Noorda (nor-duh) showed up with District Leader Elder Brandners keys to the Church (the elders were on a split with the Zone Leaders, so that's why they had keys). Then the elders went to go try to contact a former investigator or something like that named Torstyn, and the let us go in the church, which was really nice. Then we did our split back and had gemeinde later that night. 

And Thursday we had German class, which always throws our schedule off because Sister Titze only has a couple hours, so we always go in the morning, which is nice :) so after German Class we went home and had lunch, then did the rest of our studies. It was entertaining, to say the least. We had music on, and were singing along, and it was Christmas music, which made it that much more fun, and we just had a blast. It was a great comp-bonding experience.

Friday. Friday night we had a Termin with Tina, but she stood us up. it made sister Blackhurst and I both sad.

Saturday we had a termin with Wolfgang, and we both think he's ready for baptism, but he keeps saying he needs more time. We’ve already given him a lot, but if we can get him to come to church, we both think he'll think he’s ready by Jan 11. We were so excited. Anyway, our appointment was the usual all over the place Wolfgang style. But after was fun. A couple of his friends were sitting at the next table, and after our lesson, they turned to us and said, "What did you learn about today?" so we gave them a rundown of the lesson, and it was really fun. We talked about how we have to do things before we can receive answers, like read the BoM to know it’s true, or go to church to know. I think he's starting to understand it. Sometimes he takes a little longer for things to stick.

Sunday we spent basically all day at the church. We have church at 9:30, it was interesting, as usual what with me trying to understand the German, then we had a Gemeinde Essen, and then we watched the First Presidency Christmas Devotional. In German. The voiceover always gives me a headache. So that was no fun. But church, church was interesting. 

We had Wolfgang at church, and the Elders had an investigator named Bruce (an American), and then Lisa Find (one of the JAE (yOHt-ah-ey)or YSA) brought a friend named Shelby. We had a good lesson, except that Bruce kept butting in with deep doctrine questions, and was not very nice. He liked to twist our words to get an answer that he wanted, and just - didn't make things easy. Shelby was super confused about why he was there, because she said to her it seemed like all he was doing was attacking us. Brother Find was at the class, too, and man, he got ticked.  He bore a powerful testimony to end the lesson, and I really hope Bruce felt something and decides to change, because he just was not nice at all. The Elders are getting fed up with him, because every one of their lessons is like that. But I think it was good because Brother Find said that Wolfgang told him he could feel the power of our testimonies, which I think was really helpful to his testimony. it was cool, and aggravating at the same time.

So that was my week. How’d yours go?

Love you, 

Sister Montgoemry

The Adventure Begins (December 8, 2104)

Grüß dich! (Greetings to you)

Well, once again, the week has flown by.

Transfer calls last week. Didn’t go anywhere. That’s okay. I like Wetzlar.

Last Monday was kind of slow. We did our shopping in Marburg, which was fun. We didn't go to the castle this time, but it was still super fun. Their Weihnacht Markt wasn't very big, but they had some great deals for Christmas. AND, I found coo-coo clocks. They’re €100, though, so I haven't bought one yet. I will get one, though. It was a lot of fun, because it was new, and there's so much to look at and explore.  But, yeah, we came home, and went to Manuela's, but she stood us up, so we did go-byes in the area instead. It was entertaining- we'll leave it at that.

Tuesday we had DDM in Hanau. Travel for that took most of the day. And a little tiring.  After we got back to Wetzlar, Sister Blackhurst and I went to the FHV (German equivalent of Relief Society) Christmas party. It was really fun. Sister Sertel told us some stories of growing up in post WWII, and then she read us a story that I couldn't really understand. It left a really sweet spirit, and I caught some stuff about the spirit of Christmas in there. It was really cool, because, even though I couldn't understand much, I still got the main message of the story.

Wednesday we went to Gießen to contact a referral we got a few days ago, but we couldn't find her house, so we ended up dooring the area. It was actually really fun because we doored into a man who knew English, and asked us where we were from, and why we were in Germany, so we got to explain - in English- which was really fun, because we talked about leaving home for 18 months, and not having hardly any contact with family or friends, and his expression was just this wide-eyed, slack jawed mixture of awe and respect. it was pretty great.

Thursday, we went to Gießen again, because we had some other less-actives we wanted to go by on. then we had an Essen Termin with Familie Find, and went to a less actives after. We had German Spaghetti, which was basically just spaghetti minus the tomatoes sauce. It was really good. When we got to their house, they were still cooking dinner, so got to sit and chat with the kids and the Elders.  Brudder Find is hilarious. He reminds me of Grandpa Troumbley, because he's such a big jokester. I can't explain how hilarious he is, you're just going to have to meet him. we shared the new "he is the gift" with both the Finds and the Siebeneichs (Z-ben-Ikes), they all seemed to enjoy it. it always leaves a very sweet spirit behind. Oh! On the drive to the Siebeneichs, there was a fog over the woods; and the branches near the road had all broken because of it. So, there were stretches of road that were blanketed in fir tree branches, and I was scared for my life because some of them were big, and sticking straight up. It was scary.

Friday we were supposed to have a street display in Hanau, but because there was a split happening, it didn't get done, which made me sad. It was super fun though, because Elder Brandner (our DL) and Elder Moore were on a split, and MAN, those two can get crazy. Sister Blackhurst and I both needed to use the bathroom after the long trip to Hanau so we went with the Elders to their appointment for that. Then we went to the place where our display would be and waited. And waited. And waited for Elders Bently and Awerkamp to bring the stuff for display, like the table and Books of Mormon and cards and everything. But they didn't show up. At least not until 10 minutes before we had to leave to catch our train back, because Sister Blackhurst and I had an appointment with Wolfgang at 7, so we HAD to leave, and we had the hessen ticket (a group ticket that's cheaper than individual tickets) so the Elders had to come with us. So we didn't get to do the Street display, but we did get to see the Hanau Christmas Markt, which was really cool and big. Really big. Elder Moore and I were seated next to each other on the train back to Gießen, and we talked about books, movies, and our lists of movies/books we need to go though when we get home. it was really fun, because I've read some obscure books, but Elder Moore actually knew what I was talking about. It was really fun to have someone who actually knew what I was talking about. We also had a go-by with Sister Titze on Friday morning, but the lady wasn't home. We’re going to go out with her again on Tuesday, and I'm super excited.

Satruday was kind of quiet because we actually had full studies. The other days we had to leave early so we could be places on time. Saturday night we went with Familie Voigt (Foh-kt) and Wolfgang to the Brounfels Christmas Market. It was PACKED. It's a little market, and is only open on weekends before Christmas, so it's always busy. it was really fun to have Wolfgang and the Voigts there together because the friendships with ward members is helping him with his decision to be baptized. I got an antique legitimate nutcracker. And it works. It was pretty great that I got it for such a good deal. Brudder Voigt asked the man at the booth how much it was when he saw me eyeing it. It was marked at €6 but the guy said he's let it go for €5. So I got it for €5.

Yesterday we had church, and then had dinner with the Stahls (sh-talls) they invited us to go with them to the Protestant church down the street at 4:30 because the kids there were putting on a nativity play for the season. It was actually really good. It was kind of weird, one because it was all in German and I couldn't understand all of it, but the way things were set up was odd because it wasn't was I'm used to with our church. But was a really cute play, and the kids did a good job. it was really fun.

So, a busy week turned out good. it was fun, and titiring, and the advent season has officially begun. There are Weihnacht Markts everywhere, and they're all beautiful and remind me of the fair, clogging and roasting in the heat, all that fun stuff that goes along with those memories. It's been fun. 

Stay tuned for more fun next week,

Sister Montgomery. 

3 months and 2 transfers down, 15 months and 11 transfers to go (December 1, 2014)

Well, hello family and others.

Transfer calls came this week. Just thought I'd let you know. No, I am not getting moved anywhere. Still in the wonderful Stadt of Wetzlar, with the beautiful, REAL castle of Brounfels. Did you know that there's a city in Texas, not far from San Antoine called “little brounfels" and is modeled off of the city that is 20 minutes from where are am now? How crazy is that?

We went to Brounfels last Monday, by the way. I got about 30 pictures. I was a picture machine, and they’re actually quality pictures. It was great :D we went with the Gießen Elders and we had a blast! Then we came and did emails and went to an eating appointment with the Schmidt Family who have a daughter that went on her mission to England like, 2 weeks after I got to the field. I'M so excited for her she's going to have a lot of fun. Anyway, we had fun with the Schmidt. We talked about our favorite movies, and I understood a fair amount of what they were saying. But they speak really good English and understand how hard it is to understand another language, so I think they were speaking simple German. Oh, well. I understood it, and it was really fun. We talked to them about member missionary work, and thought it would be a good idea to give them an overview of Preach My Gospel and how it can help, especially with Janean having just gotten to the field and everything. It was wonderful. They were really receptive, and motivated to start using it more in their family scripture study.

Tuesday, we had an Essen Termin (eating appointment) with Sister Buß, (boo-s) one of the members. It was really fun. She prepared a really great meal, and then we talked about PMG and how it can be used to help with member missionary work, just like we did with family Schmidt. It was really fun. We had a lesson with Wolfgang about Tithing after we got back to Wetzlar. He was really receptive, and is so ready for everything. He’s progressing so fast, and the members are so ready to help us get him ready for baptism. I'm so excited for him.

Wednesday we had splits with our STL, Sister Taylor. She and I went over to the Klebs house and helped Sister Kleb most of the afternoon. Sister Kleb is a Scottish woman married to a German, and she has cancer and 5 kids, ages 10, 8,6,4,and 1. The reason SIster Taylor and I had to go over was because her usual helper was sick, and she's not supposed to lift more than 2 kilos (about 5 lbs.) because it can hurt her. She can take care of the kids, because they listen good, but gets anxiety when she’s alone with them for more than an hour because she's afraid of what could happen with the off-chance that something disastrous does happen. So, that's why we were there. We got specific instructions from President Stoddard on when we could lift Macklen (the 1 year old). Sister Taylor was on the phone with him for about 20 minutes as he gave her detailed instructions on this. It was kind of funny to watch. And it was a lot of fun to be with little kids again. The Kleb kids aren't as loud as ours, at least not that I saw, but it was still like home to be surrounded with little children. (Give all the little kids a hug and a kiss for me, and tell them I love them, okay?) After we got done with that, Sister Schmidt took us home, and then we went and got Döners (Doo-ners) A Turkish dish, kind of like a taco, but not quite). My first Döner. it was really good. Then we went to GMiCo (Gey-me-co--coordiantion meeting with our GML -- Gemainde missions leiter or Ward Mission Leader). I was in charge of our part, which wasn't all that nerve-racking I just told him about our week, and how everyone was doing, asked for help with stuff. It was actually kind of fun.

Thursday we split back, then went over to the Titze's house and helped make our Thanksgiving Feast. Yes, Mom, we did get Thanksgiving, because Sister Titze's American by birth, and loves to have all the other Americans over for Thanksgiving. She said they used to have a "no German on Thanksgiving" rule, but have had to break it the last 2 years because there were a couple non-English speakers at the Feast. The food was really good. it was a little different because there are no mixes here so everything was done from scratch, and sister Titze puts bacon on her Turkey. it was actually really good. It was quite the enjoyable afternoon/evening.  We sang Frozen while we prepped everything, because Siste Titze has both the German and English soundtracks, which I found quite enjoyable -- you know my music and me :)

Friday we had Zone Training, and that lasted literally all day. But it was the best. The zone leaders dressed up as blood-thirsty Lamanites with loin clothes (over their suits) and face paint (Germany's colors :D) Sister Taylor set up a Christmas tree, which Sister Blackhurst helped turn into a Finding Advent Calendar it was quite entertaining to watch the transformation. And the ornaments she made were really cute. She had Holly sprigs, a few Christmas globes, several snowflakes, and even some gingerbread men. The AP's showed us the Churches Christmas initiative video called "He is the gift." it's a beautiful video. Sister Blackhurst and I have watched it at least 5 times since. It's really powerful. You should watch it and share it with everyone. See how many people you can share it with, and is you can get some of the pass along cards from the missionaries and how many of those you can pass out.  I challenge each of you to see if you can hand out at least 1 every day of December. See if you can do it.

Here's the URL for the video

http://www.mormon.org/christmas

Saturday we had breakfast with the Elders because of Transfer calls. We had eggs, and German rolls (Can't remember what they're called) and several other topping. It was really good.  We had a Termin with Wolfgang at 4. We talked about Baptism again, and asked if he though he'd be ready by December 21. He said no, but maybe sometime in Janruary. So we have a tentative Baptismal date of January 11 with Wolfgang. Sister Blackhurst and I were so giddy after we finished that we could not focus on planning, or anything, so we decided to go check out the Christmas markets her in Wetzlar. They are so stinking cool. I seriously wish I could send pictures home right now, because I want to show you SO BAD. When I finally do get my camera figured out, I will definitely be sending those pictures to you ASAP.

Sunday was a normal day. Except that I was asked to lead the Music and bear my testimony. Leading was fun; it brought back memories of being assistant Ward Chorister. and ´my testimony was just very simple. Lots of people said I did a good job, and that I have good German. I told them thank you. It was fun.

This week has been crazy busy, but loads of fun. I had a great time this week. I love and miss you all. I hope you're doing well. I'll try to send some snail mail letters soon.

Sister Montgomery 

1 plus 3 = 3 (November 24, 2014)

Hey-oh! Hey-oh!

So I've almost made it through one whole month in Germany, and three whole months on my mission. We're getting there. I'm actually starting to feel like I'm making a dent and have a handle on things. Except the language -- that's still out of my reach. I feel like I have the grammar principles down, but I don't really have the vocabulary to practice. That’s okay. I'm cracking down on vocab drills in Language Study, so I should be able to say virtually anything I want within the next couple months.

This week was crazy busy, but fun.

So, last Monday we had FHE with the Titze's. Sister Titze had the lesson, it was in German (It's not always because Sister Titze is an American by birth), and it was on "I know that my redeemer lives," my favorite song on the whole planet!  It was super special for me, because, the actual lesson was in German, and so I couldn't understand everything, but I could still feel the spirit, which helped me realize once again that this is the true church of God.

Tuesday was a spiritual feast with DDM (District meeting) in Hanau, the other half of our district. It took us half the day to get there, but once the meeting actually started, I regretted not bringing a lot of note taking materials. I will not make the same mistake with Zone Training this week. Sister Burri gave a beautiful Theme on member work, and got me really excited and ready to work with the members. The only problem with that is that our ward is spread out over, like 200 miles. We live in the equivalent of Minnesota -- very few members, the ward boundaries are HUGE, two-thirds of the ward is inactive, half of the investigators are Students at the Uni in Gießen, and so everyone in the Area book has moved away, which makes it really hard. But, the work continues, and I have a smile, even when it's raining because I love the rain, and mountains may be hard to climb in the moment, but the view when you reach the top is incredible.

So we had lessons with both Diana and Wolfgang on Tuesday and Wednesday, and they both are pretty ready for the next step - AKA baptism. Diana has a smoking problem and not the best friends, so Sister Blackhurst and I are trying to figure out a way to help her with that. We pray really hard, and I found a "smokers workshop" yesterday when I was organizing the bookshelf (more on that to come). Anyway, thought that maybe this would help her. We'll have to try it and see.  Wolfgang came to church last week, and he is just the cutest old man. He reminds me of Grandpa Troumbley -- a big jokester, really funny, always trying to help. Sister Blackhurst told him her birthday was next Sunday, and he said he'd take us out to dinner Saturday at an Italian Restaurant in the Altstadt because he knows the owner. It was so cute. He’s also told Sister Blackhurst that he's going to take her and her mother to Paris after she gets off her mission. It’s so adorable! Anyway, I think they're both ready, or at least getting ready for baptism. Would you pray for them?

Wednesday we had my visa appointment, it went smooth, and I should be getting a notification in the mail next week telling me I need to go pick up my visa at the Rathaus. It's gonna be official then. I'll be stuck here for another 15 months. After my appointment, we were going to go to Marburg, but couldn't because we had our appointment with Wolfgang. After that we went contacting in the Altstadt because we had no other lessons and wanted to.

Thursday we had German class with Sister Titze. As always, it was very helpful, informative, and a lot of fun. We played a game where she gives us a word, and we have to use German parifrasis (explaining around it) to get the others to guess what the word actually is. We have had words like “mannequin," "Midwife" and "gurgle water." it's quite entertaining. Later that evening we had our GML meeting with Bruder Swerdjot (sh-ver-dio) the Elders were on splits so they didn't end up coming, but Sister Blackhurst and I had a great conversation with him about Family History and the like. Bruder Swerdjot is the global consultant over all the tech stuff for the Church. And he's in our ward. It’s really cool to have a "larger than life" person in our ward. He told us about some of his personal history, how he had a sheep farm on the Swiss border to the south, and how he learned all this different stuff because of gumption. It was very inspiring.

Friday was a white day. So Sister Blackhurst and I decided to go to Marburg. We had been planning this excursion for a couple weeks but had never found time to actually go. But we did Friday, which was spectacular.  We didn't get to visit all the people we'd intended, but we did climb 2 big hills, and found that a former investigator was no longer at the location the Area Book said she was. We also saw the Marburg castle. Can I just tell you all how much history there is here in Germany! It’s nuts!!  Everywhere you turn, there are 300-plus year old houses, museums about random city-wide cultural schemes that died, and the architecture is AMAZING!! THOUSANDS of years of history! It makes me think of that quote from "Ice Age: dawn of the Dinosaurs" the one where Ellie says "We've been living above an entire world -- and we didn't even know it!" it's the same idea here with the history, we have no idea the stories that happened here 250, 500, or 1,500 years ago. They left their mark in history with all their castles, and cute little German homes, and it's beautiful. I love it.

Saturday, we had Wolfgang and Diana again. Wolfgang is progressing really fast. We finished the Commandments with him, and he seems to be understanding things better. I'm really excited for him as he continues to grow. Diana, on the other hand, was strangely absent when we went to our appointment. It was really sad. So we went contacting in the Altstadt again, but there was no one there. I'm not sure why because it was Saturday. Oh, well.

Yesterday, Sunday, Sem (pronounced like it's spelled) came to church. Sem is a less active JAE (Yot-ah- ay -- the German equivalent of YSA) and he came to church! Probably because it was a Gemeinde Essen (Ward dinner), but he came, nonetheless. We also had a Canadian English speaker who needed translations, which Elder Brandner and Sister Blackhurst gladly provided. I would have, but it was really difficult because of my lack of vocabulary that I am going to fix. Her name is Dana (Day-nuh), and she is visiting a friend who was german foreign exchange several years ago. She’s a really sweet girl, and I'm really glad she's so adventurous.

So, yeah, that was my week. It was really busy, kind of hard, but super fun.

Has it snowed yet over there? The natives keep saying that it probably won't snow here, which makes me sad. I keep praying for snow, so I hope it comes.

I love you all, and miss you! Keep smiling.

Sister Montgomery

Busy, busy, busy (November 17, 2014)

Hello, everyone!

This week's been good for me; we've had some interesting things go down.

So, last Monday we went to FHE at the Sertels, which was really cool.  Bruder Sertel had a really awesome lesson prepared about the fall of Adam, choice and accountability, and how people can express their beliefs through music. It was amazing.

Tuesday we had an absolutely amazing lesson with Wolfgang at Moo's. We talked about the Word of Wisdom, and Wolfgang, being a doctor, was able to assure us that he hasn't smoked or had alcohol for years. I wanted to cheer so loud, but because we were in the Mall, I didn't think it would be a good idea. It was really cool that he could tell us some of the reasons he AND his brother have not smoked or drank, and I could feel the Spirit there very strong, and I knew that the Word of Wisdom was inspired of God. It was absolutely amazing.

Wednesday we had German Class with Sister Titse again. It is very helpful and wonderful of her to offer to help all of us Missionaries with our grammar and pronunciation. We had Gemeinde Rat (Ward Council) at 19:00 (7:00pm) and it was really interesting. I couldn't understand most of what happened, but I got more than I have in the past. I am starting to see improvements in my comprehension and vocabulary. It's quite thrilling.

Thursday we had Zone Training in Friedricsdorf. We were right next to the Temple, and it was absolutely beautiful, and amazing. So, it took all day for us to get to Friedricsdorf-- okay, 2 hours -- from Wetzlar. And then Training started at 12:00, and lasted for 3 hours. Zone Training was a BLAST! The Zone Leaders and Sister Training Leader had a fun time getting things organized. It was super fun. The Themes (tay-ma's AKA talks) were so fun and all on Christ-like attributes. They were so cool. They all connected, and it was so cool.  (I know, that's really redundant. I just can't think of any other words right now), and then I went on my first split with Sister Brown and Sister Sherwood who are stationed in Wiesboden, and Sister Taylor, our STL, went with Sister Blackhurst back to Wetzlar. Sister Sherwood had an Interview with President Stoddard, so Sister Brown and I helped break down the tables we used for Zone Training and set the chairs back up for Sacrament. There are no cultural halls here, so we have to use the Chapel for events like that. It was really weird, but kind of cool at the same time.

So, yeah, I went on my first Split, met my Godmothers. (Yes, they use the whole "familial relationship" thing in this mission. It's kind of weird, but more funny, because it's weird. Does that make any sense?)  Anyway, Weisboden is really beautiful. It's one of the older cities, but lots of the buildings have been remodeled and look new. Many of them still have the old Victorian style look, which is my favorite. I just get giddy whenever I see those buildings because there's so much history, and it's great. So, I got to see a fair amount of, while lugging my suitcase around on Friday because we didn't know whether or not we'd be going back to the 5th floor apartment (with no elevator). Yeah, that was fun to walk up after a mental work out at Zone Training, and the riding the bus and trains for 2 hours to get there. We didn't get home until like 8:30pm Thursday. Yeah, it was fun. Then we watch The Testaments auf Deutsch for language study, because we didn't really get studies since we had travel time to account for with ZT. Anyway, it was really cool.

Friday, we had the usual schedule up until Sister Brown realized she didn't have her Visa in her wallet, but she knew that it was on the copy machine at the church. So we ran over there real fast, and then went over to meet with the Gill family. The Gills are a Pakistani family who lived in Italy, and know English. The Lesson was in English, and it was really cool because the 10 and 11 year old girls, the ones we were teaching, couldn't speak English very well, so they spoke Italian to their father who translated for us. It was quite awe inspiring. I could feel the Spirit so strong, especially when I testified about the power of scripture study. It was really cool.

Also, I learned from Brother Gill that there is a city in Pakistan called "Montgomery" and that is where all of the famous Pakistani candy and clothes and things are manufactured. It was really interesting. I also learned, from one of the ward members (I think it was brother Schwerdio) that there was an English General named Montgomery, and he played a big part in the 2nd world war, I believe. It was really cool information, but I can't remember everything which is frustrating. Oh, well. 

So after we got done at the Gills, we headed over to the Military base barracks to meet with a member over there. Unfortunately, McKenna was not home. Mom, do you or Jeff remember which Base he was stationed on? Because it would be pretty cool if he was stationed on the Wiesboden base, because I went there. Yeah.

Saturday, we had another lesson with Wolfgang. It was really cool. We talked about the Example of Christ and were going to commit him to Baptism, but one of his friends, Michael, came over and was listening, and then started asking questions and stuff. So then we kind of had to give him a lesson of his own about Christ because he's an atheist. It was really weird because he started talking about terrorism and stuff in the middle of our lesson. It was hard for me to follow because I don't have a very big German vocabulary, but Sister Blackhurst translated when he asked a question to me specifically. So, yeah, that was really weird.

That night, our lesson with Diana went much better. Her 6 year old son Jaime was there, and was flipping all over and it totally reminded me of home. We had the same topic of discussion as we did with Wolfgang, and it went a lot smoother. I think Diana and Wolfgang are both ready for Baptism; we just need to set a date with them both. I'm super excited for them.

Sunday was the usual. Except for the primary program, which was adorable. You would think that I'd be able to understand most of what the primary aged kids talk about, but no. I was still struggling to understand. I got the gist of it, but most of the words still went over my head. I guess I need to work on building my vocabulary. 

We had dinner at the church with the Gentiles, (Gen-Tee-Lay) the Finds (short I), and the Stahls (Sht-all). It was really fun, and the food was spectacular. I don't even know what all the dishes were, but they were all great. And they were eck German (real German) food. After everyone finished eating, the kids ran off and played, and the teens and Adults and Missionaries all sat and talked for a good hour. It was super fun and great practice for my German, and the food and people were great.

We eat with Members almost every Sunday. The food is all really good. It’s got lots of seasonings, not a lot of spice, lots of starches, carbs and fat. But somehow I've managed to lose 8 lbs in 3 weeks. Some of it came back, but I’m working it off again. NO, I have not tried Sour Kraut yet, but I'm sure it's coming.  I have eaten lots of meats, and Düners, and lots and lots of yummy foods. Right now I'm serving in the city of Wetzlar, but I went on my first split to Wiesboden this week. We went to the Military base, and I was wondering if you know where Jeff was stationed when he was here. No, there's not a lot of sight seeing here in Wetzlar, but there's tons of shopping. Yes, we're seeing things on P-Day, no, we don't do much shopping, and just what we need. I wasn't feeling well today, so I was glad we didn't have a tone of shopping to do. We were going to go to Brounfels Castle, but called it off because I'm sick. Just aches, pains, and a cough. I hope to nip it in the bud soon so I can get back to work.

I don't really understand the language. Every time people talk to me, I think of that line from "Finding Nemo" where the sea-turtle is talking really fast to Marlin, the dad, and he says "He's trying to speak to me, I know it! You know, you're really cute, but I just don't know what you're saying." that's how I feel every time, and yes, it's really exhausting to try and keep up with people.

Dad says you want more details about why things were "cool" or "wonderful." I'll try. I need to keep a better journal so I can actually remember the details, and then I'll be able to give them to you. But, yeah, I will do that.

So, yeah, this week was really busy, but it was great. I felt the spirit a lot, and learned a lot from everyone, especially the Spirit and Sister Blackhurst.

Hope all is well with everyone over on the other continent. Don’t freeze. It’s still really warm here. Like, 30's at night. The cobblestones hurt my feet at the end of the day. But the work continues, and I'm having a blast, just like Elder Scott said to.

I miss you and would love to hear from everyone, and from people in the ward and other friends.  So spread the word that I'm letter hungry :D I'm just kidding. But seriously, tell people I want to hear from them.

Love you,

Sister Montgomery

(It's really weird saying my first name out loud, or typing It. is that normal?)

Adventure's out there!

Hello, hello, hello!

Wow, this week has been really busy. we did a lot of walking and I weighed myself. I've lots 6 lbs. in the last 2 weeks what with all the walking we have to do. And we walk fast -- probably 4.5mph. I'm pretty sure we walk about 10 Clicks a day, (for those of you who don't know, a Click is short for Kilometer, which is just over 1/2 a mile -- so, that's about 5 miles a day). We walk to the Bahnhoff/Forum (mall) about 3 times a day, and that's about click. Then we walked to several of the less active/potential and investigators houses, and those are a good 5 clicks a piece. Sometimes we go to Gießen (geese-en) and walk all over there. It’s crazy how much walking we do. But it's fun.

So last Monday and today (P-Day) was all errands and fun stuff like that. We did our studies, went food shopping, and then we cleaned the apartment, and now it's all pretty again. I did laundry for the first time here and it was weird. We have no dryer, so there were clothes hanging on the heaters (there's on ins every room) and on the rack in the bedroom. it was really funny, and I laughed a lot this morning.

Tuesday we went exploring in a suburb of Gießen, trying to find where our dinner appointment for tomorrow would be. We walked about 3 extra clicks, and somehow I had breath to talk the whole time, and even sing a little. We talked about family and a little about friends, I shared the music from some of my favorite musicales we talked about philosophies and Sister Blackhurst shared one her dad came up with. It’s "ABP =always be positive." I've decided that this is one of "my new philosophies" -- and yes, I did sing that song for her, Danika, and Cheyenne. it was great fun.

Wednesday was really hecktic. We went to a suburb of Gießen to meet with one of the ward members, sister Titse (Teat-sa) who is an American and is helping us with our German. we call it "German Class," and usually it's on Thursdays, but we were going to have Zone training on Thursday, but there was a Zug Strike (a train strike -- everybody knows what strikes are, right?), so we rescheduled German Class for Wednesday. it was really fun, and super informative. we practiced articles, which was way helpful because 3/4 of grammar is based on the articles. German is so complicated. But I think I'm starting to get the hang of the articles deal. it's great!

We had a lesson with Wolfgang at Moo's (Mo's), which is a bakery that's only popular here in Wetzlar. We usually meet at the one in Forum, which is probably more busy than the one just down the street, but that's where Wolfgang likes to meet, so that's where we met him. Wolfgang in the cutes little old man, probably in his 70s. he speaks pretty good English and so most of our lessons are in English. Sometimes Sis. Blackhurst slips into German, and he follows, and then it just switches back and forth, and it's really funny. So he likes to go off on random tangents and one of the tangents he got on this week was about taking Sister Blackhurst and her mother to Paris after Sister Blackhurst finishes her mission. (She hits her 1/2 way mark on the 19th of this month). So he does that, and it's just so cute. Sister Blackhurst and I both think he's ready for Baptism, but he's being stubborn and keeps saying "it's easy for you, you were raised this way, your whole family's members. I was raised as a Catholic." we've tried to convince him that he can still change, even though he's older. I don't know. We’ll get him there. He reads from the Book of Mormon when we give him chapters, and he's honest when he hasn't read. he's just the best. and his friend, Gunther, who -- prior to this- had had no interest in meeting with the missionaries actually opened up and expressed an interest in hearing us out, and he participated in the discussion with Wolfgang and it was great. I'm sure both of them felt the spirit, and I'm super excited to see them progress.

So, Thursday we DIDN'T have Zone training because of the strike, (which ended this morning) so we went to the Rathous (city hall) to see if we could make an appointment for getting my Visa. All the Goldens are here on Passports right now, and can be for about 6 months. Hopefully we'll all have our Visas by then. Anyway, we walked over there for that, and the lady that helped us said they’d sent me a letter with my appointment time. So we went home and made sure our mailbox had my name on it so I could get my letter. And I got mail for the first time since being in Germany. it was so cool. Anyway, then we went to Gießen and did street/bus contacting. It was fun. We had an appointment with Michael at 6, but he stood us up. Apparently he wasn't as interested in being reactivated as we thought. it made Sister Blackhurst and I both upset that he didn't call or anything -- he just didn't show up for the second week in a row.  I'm not sure if we're going to keep trying with him or not. I guess we'll see.

Friday after studies and planning, Our Appointment with Diana fell out, so we decided that it would be a good idea to coordinate member and area books with the Gießen Elders because our ward is huge, and things are kind of disorganized. So we tried and tried to get to Gießen to meet with them, but with the Zug strike, it was almost impossible -- our train got canceled, and then we had to take the bus, and we'd just missed one waiting for the Zug, so we had to wait forever, and then the drive over took over an hour, and by then it was about 7:30 and we had to be back to the apartment by 9, and the last bus came at 8:30-something and because we were planning we missed it (barely, which was aggravating) and so then we went to the train station and had to take a Zug back (thankfully it didn't fall out) and it was just the craziest most fun evening of the week. but at least we got started in our coordination efforts with the Elders. it was fun.

Saturday we had another lesson with Wolfgang (Gunther was, unfortunately, absent), but I think we may have finally gotten the "you can change" idea through to him. Sister Blackhurst talked about her friend that's serving his mission in Paris right now, and showed him pictures of Josh and her family and we ended talking about Temples for a bit and how, after he's baptized, Wolfgang can do his parents Temple work and they can be members, too. it was really cool. 

Sunday was Pfal Konferenz (Stake Conference), and it was tough. We got a ride with the Schneiders who know absolutely no English, and then we ended up going to their house after for dinner. Longest 6 hours of my life. Probably because I couldn't understand 3/4 of what was said, but I got the gist of it. it made me really tired, though. but it was great. it was super fun. I just wish I could understand more. Maybe for the next conference, I'll be able to say "Yeah, I understood most of it." we'll see. I'll let you know.

All’s well that ends well, and this week has ended very well in deed, and I'm super excited to see what adventures this new week will bring. I'll keep you posted.

Love you all, and miss you. Keep smiling because, as a good friend once told me "Satan hates it when you smile. Rub it in his face :)"

The adventure continues!

Sister Montgomery