January 2, 2012

I'm alive!!!! Can you believe it? Me either. Also this keyboard I'm using is ridiculous. Hopefully I get faster at this.


SO! Big news. Biiiiiiig news.


First of all I should say that my first real day of the mission here was awesome. The Mission President took us to a place that everyone in the mission calls "Mauer Platz", or "wall place." The Berlin wall used to stand there. So we read from the dedicatory prayer that Thomas S. Monson gave like 40 or 50 years ago that said that the land of East Germany will be open to the gospel once more. Then he let us go to our own private place on the other side of where the wall was (in former East Germany) and say our own prayer to dedicate ourselves to the missions. Then I had to take a picture of me with my awesome missionary nametag as kind of a SUCK IT message to the former East Germany. WE WON. Ha.


After that we were swept away to meet all the trainers and get assigned to our new areas. And...I'm...in...HAMBURG!!!!!!!!!!!!! Dream come true. Seriously. This is the best place ever, mostly because they speak High German and that's the only German I can (barely) understand. Ha. It's a miracle.


So technically I'm in a place called Langenhorn, which is north Hamburg. There used to be a concentration camp here. Why am I not surprised....??? Anyway, it's AWESOME here because we actually have a ward (our congregation has about 80 people) and we always have appointments so I don't spend a lot of time walking around trying to find people to teach. I also speak French all the time!!!!! Aaaaaaaah. We have an investigator with a baptismal date right now and we're hoping to have several more by the end of the month. Wiiiiiin. Also the members are so awesome. SO AWESOME and I love them and I feel like we're already family.


My trainer's name is Sister Martinz and she's AMAZING. God must really love me because I totally got the whole package. She's from Austria which means my German should be perfect soon, since she's always making me speak German. Ha. She's hilarious and we get along soooo well. Everyone here loves her so I'm excited to work here and with her. Yay.


One thing Sister Martinz is really good at is making me talk to people. Oooooh it is so painful, but I do it. In the end it always turns out to be a hilarious experience. In our mission, we've been challenged to make one new appointment every single day with one new person. We're pretty much rockstars at it, considering Sister Martinz's fullproof plan - if we haven't been able to find anyone and the clock is ticking, find the nearest black person because they never mind meeting with us. Hahahahaha! Contacting (or talking to people on the street) is hilarious. You meet the funniest and weirdest people ever. And the best. Most people throw their hands up in the air and shout "Kein interrest!" But at the end of the day you realize that Mormons really are a bunch of weirdies that are trying to convert everyone to their church, so people's reactions to you are normal. I would probably do the same thing.


Let me tell you a little bit how it works. We'll be walking down the street and see someone turing a corner and walking towards us. Prime opportunity. Then they get close enough to you to realize who you are and they start panicking. You can see it in their eyes, they want to run away! But the only options are to jump in the bushes to their left or run into a car on their right. So they put their heads down and avoid eye contact at all costs. BUT the GREAT thing about Germans is that if you say "Entshuldigung!" they feel obligated to stop and see how they can help you. Germans are very helpful. So they're trapped. They get close enough to hear "Entschuldigung! Wir sind von die Kirche Jesu Christi und wir sprechen mit die Menschen über Gott!" and they have to stop, listen for a second, then proceed to throw their hands up in the air. Aaaaaah it's hilarious to watch the whole thought process happening.


Eating here is the most EXHAUSTING thing EVER. SO MUCH FOOD. And all of it is the heaviest food you could ever possibly put into your body. I can't even move after. So. I love all of you for all the wonderful packages you gave me at Christmas with delicious treats, but DON'T EVER SEND ME FOOD EVER AGAIN. EVER. I AM DYING FROM OVEREATING. Please and thank you.


What you MAY send me if you so desire is warm clothes. It's freezing here, especially when you wear a skirt!!!! I wear 3 pairs of tights everyday and I'm STILL cold. Yikes. But no snow yet, thank goodness.


People. I have so so so many letters to write and not enough time, so you may not get any letters for awhile. But there's hope!! Our Mission President allows us 2 HOURS to write emails and says we can write friends and family! So please, drop a note. I'd love to hear from you, and I can respond faster this way.


I love you all.


Sister Young