Week 13: 'Eichhörnchen'!?

Sister Taylor has been trying to pronounce 'Eichhörnchen' properly for the last two days because she just found out she was doing it wrong.  Anyway ... this week has been slow and fast at the same time, which makes no sense to me.  I have learned to realize that Heavenly Father seems to always place us in the right place at the right time.  Yesterday Sister Taylor and I had to run for a bus that ended up being the wrong bus.  BUT, we met this man named Tito from the American Military Base, and we had an awesome conversation with him.  It was kinda a "planting the seed" moment.  He was leaving back to the US in two weeks or so, but it was a blessing we got on the wrong bus.

The ward members here are so great.  I have been sick for the last week and they are so kind and want to help.  It is funny because they give me chocolate ...  I guess I would like to believe that chocolate cures everything, but in this case I am not so sure ... haha.  Sister Taylor and I have just gotten P90x and I think we laugh more at each other at times then we actually do the exercises.  It is a pretty good workout and I'm excited to use it rather than to go out and freeze to death outside.

This week I have been in charge of the navigating and finding directions.  It was super hard, but I never once got us lost.  I think that deserves a pat on the back for myself  :)  Also, something new that will be taking place is we had "transfer calls."  I will not be leaving Wiesbaden, but Sister Taylor is now the Sister Training Leader.  Also, we will now be in a "drit", which is a 3-person companionship.  So that will be a good test sticking three girls to one bathroom.  Cross your fingers we make it!  But, I'm really excited to meet our new companion on Thursday.

We have a German Ward Mission Leader and I am pretty sure I left a bad first impression with him ... I was sick and I wouldn't shake his hand, so I tried one of the 'elbow hand shakes'.  I'm pretty sure he thought I was a doof, but we had an amazing dinner appointment with him.  We almost arm wrestled, which was hillarious.  But, he arm wrestled with the elders instead.  Then at church he came right up to me and shook my hand.  This proves that you can fix first impressions with a little hard work.  I am glad that I get along with everyone in the ward; they are amazing and so strong in their spirits!

Oh last thought ... I totally gave my first talk in German this last week!  I didn't read any notes and it was totally amazing!  Heavenly Father has helped me so much already on the mission.  I hope everyone has a great week!  You are all in my prayers!

TSCHUSS

Sister Brown

​First Schnitzel! Yum!

 ​Redskins fans are everywhere in Germany!  This is an awkward picture of the elders and me trying to get a picture of the guy behind them in Redskins gear!

Week 12: Schönen Tag noch!

It is crazy how fast time seems to fly on the mission.  This week has been so packed, but so short also!  On Monday night we were able to see an investigator that hasn't spoken to the missionaries in about 8 months, and we just did a "stop by" and she wants to start meeting with us again!  I was so excited to hear that!  She is super shy, but knows that the Gospel and good influences are what she needs in her life, so I'm excited to start to meet with her. 

On Wednesday I hosted my first "split", which basically means another missionary comes to stay with me for the day and my companion goes to where the other missionary was staying.  So, basically I have to know everywhere I'm going and not get lost in the giant town of Weisbaden.  And guess what?  I totally aced it!  We were so productive and did so much that day.  I was exhausted, but man we got everything done and it was wonderful!  We did more walking than usual because I doubted my skill on the buses, but that's okay!

This week I have been a bit under the weather and it has been a really good test of my ability to get stuff done.  I got sick on Wednesday and my companion said, "Whelp, we still have stuff to do, so you can't be sick."  So I did my best and at times I wanted to kill over, but I am really proud that I was able to get everything done with how bad I was feeling.  Heavenly Father blesses us so much and I sometimes forget to realize that.  I prayed for strength to get the things done that I needed to, and He helped me with that.  He only gave me strength for that, because as soon as I got home I crashed.  But, I was able to have enough strength to make it through.

We are teaching a less active member about the temple and trying to get her to come to church more and prepare for that.  Man, it was so cool to bear my own testimony on how I felt going through the temple for the first time.  The temple is such an amazing thing.  I am on the mission, so I can't go really ever.  So, everyone out there who has a chance to go, I invite you to go in the next week for me because that is something I miss doing every week :)  The temple promises blessings to us and I know that to be true.

Our mission President called me while I was on my "split" and even before I answered I looked at my watch.  It was late, but we were going to make it home on time.  So I was like, "Man, he knows we are cutting it close."  But, he actually just wanted to meet with my companion and me that Friday.  It was really nice to get to talk to him and have him check up on us.  He really helped me with finding tips for the American Base because you can't proselyte in there.

We had an American 'Trunk or Treat' on the American Base Saturday night and there was AMERICAN FOOD!  As sick as I was, I ate a lot!  You only get that chance once in a lifetime on the mission.  There were some Germans that came to this also, and I got to speak to them in German and man, they were so funny.  We laughed so much, and at the end of the night they gave Sister Taylor and me all of their left over candy!!  We also had a Fall Talent Show in the German ward which was really fun.  Our German ward is so amazing!  They are so kind and funny and yea ... I love them all!

Well there have been some true blessings on this mission so far, and my German is slowly improving.  The people here are wonderful and full of the Spirit  :)  I hope everyone at home reading this has an amazing week!  You are in my prayers!

LIEBE GROSSE!!

Sister Brown

​"Split" with Sister Peterson -Train Station in Frankfurt

New Frankfurt Missionaries - Group Photo

Elder Melanson and Elder Anderson 'Trunk or Treating' ...

Elder Swallow and Elder Schmidt 'Trunk or Treating'!

Week 11: Castles and Monk Klosters

Today we were able to go on a tour with one of our investigators to so many places in Weisbaden and Eberbach.  We went to an 800 year old Kloster, which is where monks used to live and worship, which was way cool!  We saw so many small parts of Eberbach with the cutest, most authentic German houses ever!  It was super happy!

Monk Monastery 800 years old!

 

Adorable Germany!

So, this is not something I'm proud to say, but I had my first taste of alcoholic chocolate by accident ... I bought a box for 5 Euro (7.50ish US$), and I ate one bite and thought, "This tastes a little weird ...?"  I looked at the ingredients and sure enough ...  Why would someone ruin chocolate like that, and put chocolate with alcohol in it??!  Whelp, now I know that I need to look really hard at the ingredients to check to see if it is good!  Lesson learned.

I have also decided I love Pakistani food ... The Gills are members from Pakistan and they lived in Italy, so their children speak Italian and they are in Germany, and he speaks English, too.  It is crazy, but he makes the most weird-looking food, but it is pretty much the most delicious thing of my life!  We have had so many meetings this last week, it is hard to keep track!  We helped a less active member in the American Ward pack their things and get ready to move back to America.  The Elders even watched the dad burn his uniform, so that was pretty cool.

This week we have focused a lot on missionary work that the members can do, and also family history.  Sister Taylor (my companion) is so awesome with family work and she gets so excited whenever we get to talk about it.  It is really funny.  She is so cool.  I read a talk from last October's conference and it talked about how we are all one "team" in this life.  We all need to work together to help others come to Christ.  It is not just one person's job or the missionary's job, or just the ward member's ... It is everyone's.  We need to work together to accomplish the task because we can use the strengths that other people have to help us.  The wards here are so amazing and I am so lucky to serve with them.  They are so willing when we ask them to do stuff, so we just need to ask.

 Our fantastic investigator, Diana!

 Knocking doors ...

I also got the opportunity to bear my testimony this last Sunday in German.  That was interesting ...  It was going really well until I tried to say that I knew that God called Thomas S. Monson to be a prophet, but the way I used "call" ...  I said that God "called" Thomas S. Monson on the phone to be a prophet ...  Whoops!  I said, "Anrufen" instead of "Berruft" ...  I think they understood what I said.  Lots of people came and said my German was getting really good, so that was a confidence boost!

I love all the little markets of food here ...  They are everywhere and they have fresh food.  It is hard not to just eat all the time!  So, wish me luck in my endeavors.  Well, this week just flew by, so I am not sure what else to add in here.  Germany is so amazing and I know that I am here for a reason.  I am already seeing changes in people, which is awesome!  I love our Church ... it is truely a message of happiness.  I hope that everyone has a great week and thanks for reading my Blogs :)

Tschuss!!

Sister Brown

Week 10: 1st General Conference in Germany

Wow, what an amazing weekend!  It was so amazing to hear all of the talks.  Because Germany is ahead 8 hours, we watched conference at weird times here ... We watched the Relief Society broadcast at 2 pm and then the Saturday morning session live Saturday night at 6pm.  Sunday we watched the Saturday evening session at 2pm and then the Sunday morning session 6pm.  I have not yet seen the Sunday evening session, though, so NO SPOILERS!  We will watch the final session next Sunday.  It was amazing to listen to the conference talks and not only find things to help myself, but I found so many talks on what my investigators had questions on and I can't wait to talk with them about it!  Lucky for me most of the sessions I was able to watch were in English.  One I watched in German and Mensch (man!), I had a nice big head ache from concentrating so hard afterwards, but it was fantastic!  I could probably go on and on about what I learned in General Conference, but hopefully you all have watched it already and know all the talks, so I'll just mention a few favorites ...

 

Something I really liked, and will help me teach, was a part in President Uchtdorf's talk where he said, "Live the Gospel Doctrines and test for yourself the truthfulness."  I can testify until my face turns blue of the doctrine of Christ, but until you take that step yourself and attempt to live the way I try to explain, you will never know if it is true.  Also, the Elder that spoke in Spanish, Elder Gaverett ... I heard this in German, but hopefully I understood the gist.  He repeatedly said, "Come unto Jesus."  Why must we come unto Jesus?  Why is it so vital?  It is because Jesus Christ is Everything.  He is why we are here and he has shown us the way.  God made a perfect plan through Jesus Christ, so doesn't it make sense to follow His plan?  The last thing was from Henry B. Eyring:  the value of the Revelation depends on the receiver.  That is so powerful and cool to think about.  We can receive revelation every day, but we must treasure it and take head to it to make it valuable to ourselves.  Just like the revelation from prophets, we ourselves did not recieve that specific revelation, but we can use what they say in our own lives and make it valuable.

 

Well, if you didn't get the chance to listen to the talks, I would encourage you to do so.  Also, if you did get to, listen to them again; read them again.  These are words of prophets!  Soak in every bit of revelation you can.  I am so blessed to have a Prophet speak to us today.  I know I said I was done, but one more thing ... Before conference I read another talk by President Uchtdorf and it talked about how a member was talking to his neighbor one day (who wasn't a member).  The neighbor asked him, "So you have prophets that speak to God, and they come to a conference twice a year to speak to you the words of God?"  And the member said, "Absolutely."  The neighbor then asked, "What did the Prophet say last conference?"  The man couldn't remember and the neighbor then asked, "So you mean to tell me God speaks through prophets to you and you don't know what they said?"  This was a humbling expierience for the member, and me also.  It is so important that we remember these words of the prophets.  That is why I encourage you to re-read the talks and remember the prophets' words.

 

So this week has been pretty fun.  I went on my first "split" and we went to Wetslar for a day.  Germany is so beyond pretty.  One of my investigators took us to a small cafe for breakfast Saturday morning and we were talking about all the things she had to do that next week and how her son was failing calculus.  I had to open my big mouth and say, "Oh!  I aced AP Calculus in high school!"  Yup ... so now I get to teach a German calculus!  Wish me luck.  Hopefully I can remember everything! Yikes!!

 

This week I didn't eat anything too out of the ordinary.  I tried Weisswurst, which is basically the fattiest sausage on the planet.  Whew ... I had to work that off the next Morgen Sport we had (morning exercise).  I also had fleischkase, which reminded me of like a fat slab of spam.  It was quite tasty!  This week just really flew by me, though.  We stay so beyond busy here, with at least 3 or 4 appointments in the days and studying and everything!  It is wunderbar  :)  Although I didn't get to have "jamma weekend" with the family for conference weekend, we basically had a pizza party in the church for conference.  We brought so much food, it was fabulous.  We made homemade popcorn, also.  I am just loving my time here!  I have decided I need to stop pretending I know German, though because people will talk to me and I'm pretty good at pretending I know what they say until they ask me a question and I'm like, "Uh ......"  Hopefully I get better at understanding people.

 

Well, I'm sorry to say there weren't too many "blonde moments" for me this week to laugh at so ...  I'll try to get some funny stories for next time.  I hope you all have a great week.

Sister Brown

 

 First German castle!

 Cold German morning ... brrr!