Bad news bears.
Transfer call on Saturday. Results are not good.Well ok, I'm staying in Hamburg and THAT is good. But my companion is leaving. And I don't want her to leave. But even worse news.
I'm getting a new companion who's serving in Berlin right now. She's from Texas. Also this is her last transfer.
Doesn't sound so bad, right?
WRONG.
I'M GETTING A SECOND COMPANION. Oh yes, we'll be a cute little trio. Even worse than that? Could it get any worse?!
Yes. SHE'S A NEWBIE. A brand spankin' new baby (probably from America). Death to me. Do you know what this means?!?! It means that I am half-training IN MY THIRD TRANSFER and I'll probably have to finish training her after the other one goes home!!!!!!!!!!
I've cried and cried and had anxiety up the wazoo and I maybe threw up 5 times. That's a lie but I am freaking out. Now I'm in charge of EVERYTHING here and maybe I'll die. I don't know.
Gah.
Ok. Moving on. Some people have asked me about the style and fashion awesomeness that Germany's supposed to have because they're part of Europe. I don't really know what people dress like in other cities, but here in Hamburg I'm happy to report that about 70 percent of all the girls here look like Snooky impersonators (if you don't know who she us don't even bother googling her - it'll burn your eyes) and 100 percent of the boys like to think they're Eminem, so they sport pierced ears baggy pants and walk with a swagger. It makes me want to barf.
Also EVERYONE here has a reeaaally stupid image of America. Ok, I'm not the biggest fan of America either, but COME ONE. Everyday people ask me if I only eat fast food in America. Also we never move, only watch TV. One thing that everyone LOVES to talk about are gangs, and they are thoroughly convinced gangs consist of about 90 percent of the America public and we drive around shooting each other. Seriously, I've heard that like 20 times. It's funny how they talk about America as if it was this crazy jungle land that no one can survive in. Weird.
I'm happy to report that Tigran has been doing a LOT of missionary work. Seriously. He talks to EVERYONE about the Book of Mormon. He even got one from us to give to a man he met on the U-Bahn (the subway). He's so great. Missionary work, in my opinion, is the number one indicator of someone's testimony and commitment to the church. They just love it so much that they want to share it with everyone! And he does.
Are you ready for the best story of the week?!
So yesterday I was sitting in church and I was feeling pretty sad because everyone was coming up to Sister Martinz and saying goodbye and it just kind of hit me - no one in this ward even knows who I am. They loooooove Sister Martinz because she's so friendly and nice and loves to talk and CAN talk. No one will even notice when I'm gone. So I was pondering this thought when a girl from the ward who's about 12 came up and sat next to me. She really really loves me and I'm not sure why. She also speaks really good English and likes to practice with me. So she asked me why I looked sad and I told her. Then she looked really stern and said, "Well I like you! And I feel really good when you smile. Every time you smile I feel like everything is going to be alright." It was the cutest thing ever. I'll never forget that wonderful message that God sent to me through this little girl right when I needed it. Miracle #50923840928.
Well my darlings. Pray for me and my 2 new companions. Pray that I won't freak out. And, as usual, I pray for you.
Looooove.
Sister Young
3.26.2012
3.19.2012
Hello peoples of the world.
As a follow up from last week, I am no longer a depressed little monkey. Do not worry, darlings. All is well, all is well.
So I'm guessing you'd like to know what the heck I've been doing this week, eh?
Well I will tell you that I did doors for the first time by myself! Let me rephrase that - my companion was with me while I talked to people at their doors! Normally I don't say anything. And normally we don't do doors. But we were bored one day and so we went to a poor-looking place (poor people are more likely to talk to us, it's just a fact) to talk to people. At one door this teenage boy answered and said he wasn't interested but his friend had some questions. So he calls back to a friend who came to the door and started to ask us about Adam and Eve. He also asked if we were virgins, which totally threw me off, but he was legitimately interested in why we don't have sex before marriage. Weirdest conversation I've ever had with a stranger in their doorway, let me tell you.
Mmk. Good news for all my fellow "30 Rock" fans. I had dinner with Frank. And it wasn't just any dinner - it was a Chinese buffet. And the whole time he was talking during dinner all I could think was, "Oh my gosh, I'M WITH NASTY FRANK FROM 30 ROCK. And we're eating Chinese food. And this is the greatest thing ever." Be jealous, my friends. Not just anyone could find the only Frank-lookalike in all of Deutschland. Only lucky people like ME.
Also. There is this delicious-looking crepe stand that we pass by all the time by our church and I FINALLY convinced Sister Martinz to get some. So we go over there and while waiting for our crepes have a nice little chat with the crepe boy working there. He smartly figures out that I am obsessed with crepes and gives me a little punch card for frequent buyers...you know, buy 10 get one free or whatever. So for some reason I said, "Thanks! And here's our card. You're welcome to come to our church services that are held every Sunday." I've never done that before, trying to spark a gospel conversation with someone who's working, I mean. EVER. But it totally WORKED and we had the most interesting conversation about God and he's totally golden. We just have to get him to church haha. But we're WORKING ON IT. And I'll buy a million crepes if I have to.
Ok, ok. I suppose I should talk about the most glorious part of the mission so far: THE BAPTISM OF SOFIA. Aaaaaaaaaaaah. It was awesome.
The baptism was right after church, so I took her into the dressing room right away and helped her put her lovely dress on. We took some pictures then led her into the chapel where we had a lovely talk from my favorite sister in the ward. Then Sister Martinz and I read the story of Jesus getting baptized from the Bible in Armenian, much to Sofia's delight. She was glowing, no joke. Then we expressed how excited we were that she was committing to follow Jesus Christ and we started crying. Of course. Then we led Sofia to the font where our bishop baptized her. Again, so many many tears. And Sofia just had this perma-smile the whole time! She literally had a halo, I'm pretty sure. The ward welcomed her and then we went with Sofia to her place to have a feast. It was so so so great.
Sometimes (a lot of times) I find myself complaining and getting down on myself and wishing I could have my old life back. Then I think of how freaking lucky I've been to find, teach, and baptize someone as amazing as Sofia. I can be so STUPID. I hope everyone gets to experience something as miraculous as seeing someone go through that process of committing to follow Christ. Aaaaaaah man. I cannot express it in words.
Y'all are great. I love ya and I'm sorry I'm really really bad at writing back. I hope you all forgive me.
Peace and blessings.
Sister Young
ps. Did I tell you that Tigran decided to get baptized on April 11th? I'm sorry if I forgot to mention that. Oops.
As a follow up from last week, I am no longer a depressed little monkey. Do not worry, darlings. All is well, all is well.
So I'm guessing you'd like to know what the heck I've been doing this week, eh?
Well I will tell you that I did doors for the first time by myself! Let me rephrase that - my companion was with me while I talked to people at their doors! Normally I don't say anything. And normally we don't do doors. But we were bored one day and so we went to a poor-looking place (poor people are more likely to talk to us, it's just a fact) to talk to people. At one door this teenage boy answered and said he wasn't interested but his friend had some questions. So he calls back to a friend who came to the door and started to ask us about Adam and Eve. He also asked if we were virgins, which totally threw me off, but he was legitimately interested in why we don't have sex before marriage. Weirdest conversation I've ever had with a stranger in their doorway, let me tell you.
Mmk. Good news for all my fellow "30 Rock" fans. I had dinner with Frank. And it wasn't just any dinner - it was a Chinese buffet. And the whole time he was talking during dinner all I could think was, "Oh my gosh, I'M WITH NASTY FRANK FROM 30 ROCK. And we're eating Chinese food. And this is the greatest thing ever." Be jealous, my friends. Not just anyone could find the only Frank-lookalike in all of Deutschland. Only lucky people like ME.
Also. There is this delicious-looking crepe stand that we pass by all the time by our church and I FINALLY convinced Sister Martinz to get some. So we go over there and while waiting for our crepes have a nice little chat with the crepe boy working there. He smartly figures out that I am obsessed with crepes and gives me a little punch card for frequent buyers...you know, buy 10 get one free or whatever. So for some reason I said, "Thanks! And here's our card. You're welcome to come to our church services that are held every Sunday." I've never done that before, trying to spark a gospel conversation with someone who's working, I mean. EVER. But it totally WORKED and we had the most interesting conversation about God and he's totally golden. We just have to get him to church haha. But we're WORKING ON IT. And I'll buy a million crepes if I have to.
Ok, ok. I suppose I should talk about the most glorious part of the mission so far: THE BAPTISM OF SOFIA. Aaaaaaaaaaaah. It was awesome.
The baptism was right after church, so I took her into the dressing room right away and helped her put her lovely dress on. We took some pictures then led her into the chapel where we had a lovely talk from my favorite sister in the ward. Then Sister Martinz and I read the story of Jesus getting baptized from the Bible in Armenian, much to Sofia's delight. She was glowing, no joke. Then we expressed how excited we were that she was committing to follow Jesus Christ and we started crying. Of course. Then we led Sofia to the font where our bishop baptized her. Again, so many many tears. And Sofia just had this perma-smile the whole time! She literally had a halo, I'm pretty sure. The ward welcomed her and then we went with Sofia to her place to have a feast. It was so so so great.
Sometimes (a lot of times) I find myself complaining and getting down on myself and wishing I could have my old life back. Then I think of how freaking lucky I've been to find, teach, and baptize someone as amazing as Sofia. I can be so STUPID. I hope everyone gets to experience something as miraculous as seeing someone go through that process of committing to follow Christ. Aaaaaaah man. I cannot express it in words.
Y'all are great. I love ya and I'm sorry I'm really really bad at writing back. I hope you all forgive me.
Peace and blessings.
Sister Young
ps. Did I tell you that Tigran decided to get baptized on April 11th? I'm sorry if I forgot to mention that. Oops.
3.05.2012
March 5, 2012
Hello my lovelies.
I have pretty much nothing to say. Actually I do but I forgot them all. This is how it works - when something happens, I have to write it down right that second. If I don't, I can't remember anything. ANYTHING. So here I am sitting in front of the computer drawing a blank because everyday is the same in my mind and so I can't even remember what happened yesterday let alone a week ago.
Problem solved - looking at the comp's planner. Check.
Funny story. So one time we were on a bus and this cute little Asian couple was staring at us for a long time. They leaned over to someone and asked about us (we assume this because they were pointing at us whilst in conversation) and we were so confused because they don't like familiar at all. We really wanted to talk to them but there was like a million people inbetween us and we couldn't get to them in time. They got off at a couple stops before ours, and the lady turned around and waved at us with this gigantic smile on her face. So naturally we wrote the stop down and the direction they were walking. A couple of days later we devoted time in our planner to "Asian finding" and did doors for like 2 hours in the general vicinity of where we saw them walking, particularly picking out apartments with Asian sounding names. Morally acceptable? I'm not really sure. But we plan on knocking every Asian door in that area until we find them. So sue me.
Also. We had tausch this week (exchanges) and I got to be with Sister Peltier in Langenhorn, which was frightening because I was in charge of EVERYTHING, including the teaching. So yes, I basically taught a lesson by myself and it was awful. But it was Sofia and she's super great so I don't think she minded.
Can I also just add that the most recent picture of me on the mission blog is not an accurate depiction of what I really look like?? Because I promise I'm not that chubby. It's just a terrible picture. K thanks.
Let me tell you that this week was basically a week of crap. A big pile of it. Terrible numbers, terrible experiences, terrible everything. We had companionship inventory from HELL and it basically made me want to die. I thought I would die. I'm never getting married, and if I'm forced to I'm never talking about my feelings. EVER. And yes, this is what I've learned from my mission so far: never get married, never have children. CHEESE.
I just really miss reading. We have an encyclopedia in our apartment and it's a really good thing it's all in German or I would read the whole thing during personal study. I literally read the dictionary just so I have something DIFFERENT. Gah.
Yes yes, I'm a complainer. But I will tell you something cool. Today we went to the Planetarium here and it was pretty sweet. We also walked around pretty parks and ate pizza. Hamburg is such a beautiful city. I wish I had more time to see it. Langenhorn is really really ugly, so we try to spend all our p-days in downtown Hamburg.
Speaking of going into Hamburg, I have no time to write people emails this week. Sorry sorry sorry. I will get to you, DON'T WORRY.
I love you. I miss you. And I would like everyone who has served a mission to send me one sentence of advice of how you coped with all this RIDICULOUSNESS. Please and thank you.
Lieeeeeebe.
Sister Young
I have pretty much nothing to say. Actually I do but I forgot them all. This is how it works - when something happens, I have to write it down right that second. If I don't, I can't remember anything. ANYTHING. So here I am sitting in front of the computer drawing a blank because everyday is the same in my mind and so I can't even remember what happened yesterday let alone a week ago.
Problem solved - looking at the comp's planner. Check.
Funny story. So one time we were on a bus and this cute little Asian couple was staring at us for a long time. They leaned over to someone and asked about us (we assume this because they were pointing at us whilst in conversation) and we were so confused because they don't like familiar at all. We really wanted to talk to them but there was like a million people inbetween us and we couldn't get to them in time. They got off at a couple stops before ours, and the lady turned around and waved at us with this gigantic smile on her face. So naturally we wrote the stop down and the direction they were walking. A couple of days later we devoted time in our planner to "Asian finding" and did doors for like 2 hours in the general vicinity of where we saw them walking, particularly picking out apartments with Asian sounding names. Morally acceptable? I'm not really sure. But we plan on knocking every Asian door in that area until we find them. So sue me.
Also. We had tausch this week (exchanges) and I got to be with Sister Peltier in Langenhorn, which was frightening because I was in charge of EVERYTHING, including the teaching. So yes, I basically taught a lesson by myself and it was awful. But it was Sofia and she's super great so I don't think she minded.
Can I also just add that the most recent picture of me on the mission blog is not an accurate depiction of what I really look like?? Because I promise I'm not that chubby. It's just a terrible picture. K thanks.
Let me tell you that this week was basically a week of crap. A big pile of it. Terrible numbers, terrible experiences, terrible everything. We had companionship inventory from HELL and it basically made me want to die. I thought I would die. I'm never getting married, and if I'm forced to I'm never talking about my feelings. EVER. And yes, this is what I've learned from my mission so far: never get married, never have children. CHEESE.
I just really miss reading. We have an encyclopedia in our apartment and it's a really good thing it's all in German or I would read the whole thing during personal study. I literally read the dictionary just so I have something DIFFERENT. Gah.
Yes yes, I'm a complainer. But I will tell you something cool. Today we went to the Planetarium here and it was pretty sweet. We also walked around pretty parks and ate pizza. Hamburg is such a beautiful city. I wish I had more time to see it. Langenhorn is really really ugly, so we try to spend all our p-days in downtown Hamburg.
Speaking of going into Hamburg, I have no time to write people emails this week. Sorry sorry sorry. I will get to you, DON'T WORRY.
I love you. I miss you. And I would like everyone who has served a mission to send me one sentence of advice of how you coped with all this RIDICULOUSNESS. Please and thank you.
Lieeeeeebe.
Sister Young
2.27.2012
February 27, 2012
Yo my wonderful peoples of the world.
I had some pretty crazy wonderful experiences this week. Would you like to hear them? Yes you would.
Just so you know, I really like lists. So I'm just going to do this list-style and save us all the trouble of trying to make sense out of the random paragraphs with no transitions I would have written. You're welcome.
1.) So we were teaching one of our drunkard investigators and having a great time because a) he speaks English and b) he's always at least a little buzzed when he comes to lessons and you never really know what's going to come out of his mouth. He's super great. ANYWAY one of the times he was going off on something completely random, as usual, he told a story about how his friend wanted to do something to change their life. I think his friend's idea was to get super drunk and jump off a bridge or something, but our investigator said that he suggested they go to church. Why you might ask? "Because my mother put Jesus in my heart." Isn't that the sweetest phrase you've ever heard? It totally reminded me of the story in the Book of Mormon about the stripling warriors and their mothers. I just wanted to share that cute thought with you.
2.) Mmk. Best news ever ever ever. WE FOUND A FAMILY TO TEACH!!!!!!! If anyone who reads this has served a mission, you know how awesomely cool that is. They're from Iran and they are SO cool. The husband is here on political asylum (did I spell that right...?) because he basically hates everyone down there haha. It's really great. He spends a lot of time talking about how evil he thinks the government is there because of all the people they kill, particularly Christians. He also hates what they do to women, so naturally WE'RE BEST FRIENDS. His wife is SO COOL and they have the cutest children on the face of the planet, a boy who's 14 and a girl who's 5. At the end of our lesson with them the little girl, Yalda, leaned her head on my shoulder and said, "Ich mag euch," which means, "I like you." Basically my heart melted and it was the best thing that ever happened to me.
3.) We experienced a MIRACLE. So. With Tigran, one of our baptismal dates, we have quickly found out that Satan really doesn't want him to get baptized. Duh. But he's working sooooo hard on Tigran and it's a mess for us. So Tigran didn't know if he wanted to get baptized anymore, especially considering we pushed his date back to March 11th. Apparently that was a sign for him or something, I don't know. So we've been praying and praying and yesterday we had stake conference, which was broadcasted from Salt Lake City. Tigran and Sofia came and we ended up hearing from Elder Russel M. Nelson and Elder Eyring, 2 of my favorite Apostals. Well when I saw that Eyring would be speaking, I knew everything would be ok. And it WAS. Elder Eyring gave a talk about baptism and told a story about someone who didn't know if they should be baptized and was really struggling with it but finally decided to get baptized on MARCH 11th. And then Eyring talked about Mosiah 18 and read the scripture from Alma asking the people to just freaking get it overwith and BE BAPTIZED. Can you believe that?!?!?!!?!? It was insane. My companion and I started crying it was so crazy. I've never had an experience like that where my prayers have been answered so bluntly with the most perfect thing imaginable. All ist gut. Aaaaaaaaall ist gut.
4.) In case you were wondering, German still sucks. Blah. But I've found a trick. In German there are like a million and one ways to say "the" - der, die, das, den, dem, des....WHATEVER. I've found the best thing to do is to make a "daaaaah" sound very quickly and people can't really tell the difference and accept whatever you're saying. Win.
I love you all. Keep praying for me. PLEASE.
Lurves.
Sister Young
ps. I really like letters...and pictures...and walruses. But don't worry about sending those.
2.20.2012
February 20, 2012
Guten Morgen, meine Lieblings.
So. I'm going to start this off right by talking about the best missionary experience ever ever ever.
We decided to have another lesson last week with Sofia and Tigran about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon and the importance of knowing everything we're saying is true and praying about it and whatnot. We're getting into the final weeks before their baptism where we have to prepare them to REALLY commit their lives with tithing and Word of Wisdom stuff and whatever. So they need to know it's true and we need to know that they know. Was that a confusing sentence? You're welcome.
So we're starting to briefly go over apostacies and prophets and stuff and Sofia says, "I already know about all of this!" and then proceed to finish explaining EVERYTHING. Hahaha it was awesome. So we popped in the "Restoration" film and when it got to the part showing the First Vision Sofia put her hand up like she wanted to touch the screen and whispered, "Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ" in the most tender manner. After the film we explained that they need to pray about Joseph Smith. If he's a prophet, then the Book of Mormon is true. And if the Book of Mormon is true, everything else is true too. Sofia immediately threw her hands up in the air and said, "Ich glaube alles!" hahahaha. Tigran, in a really sincere voice, said that ever since he started to read the Book of Mormon he's been so much happier and he can feel his faith building in God and Jesus Christ. He started to relate a scripture that he had read about Nephi to his life and said that he's learned so much from this book. He said he doesn't even need to ask God - he knows it has to be true.
Well, basically moments like these erase all the times you were crumpled up in a heap on the floor begging God to tell the Mission President to call you and say you can go home. Or all the times people laughed at you in your face. Or all the times you made a fool of yourself with your ridiculous German. Or all the times you were convinced that your existence as a missionary was pointless. Moments like these make you want to explode into a tiny million pieces with the love that you feel for these people on God's behalf. They make you want to be a better person and they make you want to work so hard the next 14 months of your mission so that you can find more Tigrans and Sofias. Moments like these make a mission worth it.
Ok, ok. Enough cheesy crap. I'm annoying myself. Another awesome thing is that we now have the "ins" with a woman named Agartha. Have I talked about her before? Maybe not. She's from Ghana and has like the worst life ever. She showed up in church one day and has come most Sundays since. She refused to meet with the missionaries and no one could break this iceberg around her heart. And then I came. HA. We somehow found her address and just showed up at her apartment. At first she hated it. But then she loved it. And now she actually invites us over and loves it when we come! And I love speaking English, so it's a win-win. She's crazy, but I love her and we're very excited to be able to teach her now.
Yesterday my companion and I had to teach Relief Society and I about peed my pants I was so nervous. But literally it was like I opened my mouth and words just started coming out and they were actually grammatically correct. It was super weird. BUT the lesson was good and anything I said to ruin the lesson was saved by my companion, as usual.
You should all pray that I have the gift of tongues everyday instead of just occassionally. K thanks.
I love you all. Like, a lot. I'm always bragging about my family and friends and I'm sure everyone is sick of it. But at least everyone knows I'm super loved. And I love you all too.
Have a lovely woche. Peace and blessings.
Sister Young
So. I'm going to start this off right by talking about the best missionary experience ever ever ever.
We decided to have another lesson last week with Sofia and Tigran about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon and the importance of knowing everything we're saying is true and praying about it and whatnot. We're getting into the final weeks before their baptism where we have to prepare them to REALLY commit their lives with tithing and Word of Wisdom stuff and whatever. So they need to know it's true and we need to know that they know. Was that a confusing sentence? You're welcome.
So we're starting to briefly go over apostacies and prophets and stuff and Sofia says, "I already know about all of this!" and then proceed to finish explaining EVERYTHING. Hahaha it was awesome. So we popped in the "Restoration" film and when it got to the part showing the First Vision Sofia put her hand up like she wanted to touch the screen and whispered, "Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ" in the most tender manner. After the film we explained that they need to pray about Joseph Smith. If he's a prophet, then the Book of Mormon is true. And if the Book of Mormon is true, everything else is true too. Sofia immediately threw her hands up in the air and said, "Ich glaube alles!" hahahaha. Tigran, in a really sincere voice, said that ever since he started to read the Book of Mormon he's been so much happier and he can feel his faith building in God and Jesus Christ. He started to relate a scripture that he had read about Nephi to his life and said that he's learned so much from this book. He said he doesn't even need to ask God - he knows it has to be true.
Well, basically moments like these erase all the times you were crumpled up in a heap on the floor begging God to tell the Mission President to call you and say you can go home. Or all the times people laughed at you in your face. Or all the times you made a fool of yourself with your ridiculous German. Or all the times you were convinced that your existence as a missionary was pointless. Moments like these make you want to explode into a tiny million pieces with the love that you feel for these people on God's behalf. They make you want to be a better person and they make you want to work so hard the next 14 months of your mission so that you can find more Tigrans and Sofias. Moments like these make a mission worth it.
Ok, ok. Enough cheesy crap. I'm annoying myself. Another awesome thing is that we now have the "ins" with a woman named Agartha. Have I talked about her before? Maybe not. She's from Ghana and has like the worst life ever. She showed up in church one day and has come most Sundays since. She refused to meet with the missionaries and no one could break this iceberg around her heart. And then I came. HA. We somehow found her address and just showed up at her apartment. At first she hated it. But then she loved it. And now she actually invites us over and loves it when we come! And I love speaking English, so it's a win-win. She's crazy, but I love her and we're very excited to be able to teach her now.
Yesterday my companion and I had to teach Relief Society and I about peed my pants I was so nervous. But literally it was like I opened my mouth and words just started coming out and they were actually grammatically correct. It was super weird. BUT the lesson was good and anything I said to ruin the lesson was saved by my companion, as usual.
You should all pray that I have the gift of tongues everyday instead of just occassionally. K thanks.
I love you all. Like, a lot. I'm always bragging about my family and friends and I'm sure everyone is sick of it. But at least everyone knows I'm super loved. And I love you all too.
Have a lovely woche. Peace and blessings.
Sister Young
2.13.2012
February 13, 2012
Hello, Hello.
This week has been an eventful one. I ate my first döner, which is a tragedy to all those who have become acquainted with this Turkish delicacy since it took me until my 7th week here to do it. Aaaaaand...that's about it. Maybe my week wasn't too eventful.
Jooooooookes. Good news for you. Sofia is perfect. Like, so perfect. We were talking about the importance of baptism with her and repenting even before we're baptized, and she confessed that when she was 7 she stole her dad's pen and she felt really bad about it. Hahahaha I just love her. Also randomly in the lesson she asked, "Do you drink?" We explained that we don't, not even a little bit on holidays or whatever (she asked about that, too). After pausing for a second she said, "Then I won't either." IT WAS SO AWESOME.
Even better? Tigran stopped smoking without us even asking him to!!!!!!! THIS is what happens when people read the Book of Mormon and resolve to live better. It changed lives, people.
I also had the wonderful privilege of contacting a less active woman who hadn't been to church in over 20 years. She was amazing. And her husband is hilarious. We thought we were just coming over to share a message and talk about coming back to church or whatever but they actually made it a really big occasion and had their daughter and his fiance over for a nice dinner! It was a lovely surprise. And we had soooooo much fun. That family is amazing. At the end of the evening her husband asked us how we came to know our church was true. My companion and I (the best I could) bore testimony and the Spirit was so powerful. It was by far the best night of my mission.
So. Can I tell you something about Germans? They really really really love fruit. And cucumbers. I've partaken of both at every single meal here with the members. But I'm telling you, they REALLY love fruit. The other day a member made us broccoli and cheese soup and she put pineapples in it. Then we had fruit for dessert. We ALWAYS have fruit for dessert. Weirdest thing ever? YES. Germans also really really love obscure church hymns that Americans never knew existed. I've probably sang 2 hymns I recognize in church since I've been here. I have no idea what's up with that.
You know what I realized this week? Something crazy stupid.
Before and after your mission, people think you are so great for going on one. After your mission people especially think you are so cool and know everything about the gospel and whatever. Bascially, RM's are awesome and respected. It's a great feeling, I'm sure.
But on your mission? YOU'RE AN IDIOT. And people have no hesitation to tell you that you are. It's like I'm going to spend the next 15 months feeling like the scum of the earth, and then I'll return to praise and honor. What's up with that? Seriously. You feel so stupid sometimes, and people love to make you feel that way. So WEIRD.
Well my princes and princesses, I love your guts. Be cool, stay in school, and don't do drugs.
Lurves,
Sister Young.
This week has been an eventful one. I ate my first döner, which is a tragedy to all those who have become acquainted with this Turkish delicacy since it took me until my 7th week here to do it. Aaaaaand...that's about it. Maybe my week wasn't too eventful.
Jooooooookes. Good news for you. Sofia is perfect. Like, so perfect. We were talking about the importance of baptism with her and repenting even before we're baptized, and she confessed that when she was 7 she stole her dad's pen and she felt really bad about it. Hahahaha I just love her. Also randomly in the lesson she asked, "Do you drink?" We explained that we don't, not even a little bit on holidays or whatever (she asked about that, too). After pausing for a second she said, "Then I won't either." IT WAS SO AWESOME.
Even better? Tigran stopped smoking without us even asking him to!!!!!!! THIS is what happens when people read the Book of Mormon and resolve to live better. It changed lives, people.
I also had the wonderful privilege of contacting a less active woman who hadn't been to church in over 20 years. She was amazing. And her husband is hilarious. We thought we were just coming over to share a message and talk about coming back to church or whatever but they actually made it a really big occasion and had their daughter and his fiance over for a nice dinner! It was a lovely surprise. And we had soooooo much fun. That family is amazing. At the end of the evening her husband asked us how we came to know our church was true. My companion and I (the best I could) bore testimony and the Spirit was so powerful. It was by far the best night of my mission.
So. Can I tell you something about Germans? They really really really love fruit. And cucumbers. I've partaken of both at every single meal here with the members. But I'm telling you, they REALLY love fruit. The other day a member made us broccoli and cheese soup and she put pineapples in it. Then we had fruit for dessert. We ALWAYS have fruit for dessert. Weirdest thing ever? YES. Germans also really really love obscure church hymns that Americans never knew existed. I've probably sang 2 hymns I recognize in church since I've been here. I have no idea what's up with that.
You know what I realized this week? Something crazy stupid.
Before and after your mission, people think you are so great for going on one. After your mission people especially think you are so cool and know everything about the gospel and whatever. Bascially, RM's are awesome and respected. It's a great feeling, I'm sure.
But on your mission? YOU'RE AN IDIOT. And people have no hesitation to tell you that you are. It's like I'm going to spend the next 15 months feeling like the scum of the earth, and then I'll return to praise and honor. What's up with that? Seriously. You feel so stupid sometimes, and people love to make you feel that way. So WEIRD.
Well my princes and princesses, I love your guts. Be cool, stay in school, and don't do drugs.
Lurves,
Sister Young.
2.06.2012
February 6, 2012
Hello world.
It's cold here in Hamburg. -9 degrees C and my toes have almost frozen off. Hopefully Spring comes soon.
Good news! We have 2 more baptismal dates. And we're so excited, because one of them is Sofia!!!! She's awesome. She's already read half the Book of Mormon. And she always tells us she believes in God and Jesus Christ 150% hahaha.
The other baptismal date is Tigran, the son of one of Sofia's friends. He stays with Sofia often and for the last week and a half or so he's been coming to lessons with Sofia and became really interested. He's got some...interesting ideas. BUT he's been so open and absolutely loved Institute and he's changed so much. It's been amazing to watch this transformation.
Bahahaha funny story. So we were over at Sofia's place last week teaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ and getting ready to ask her to be baptized. I wasn't feeling well earlier so we were hoping to get through the lesson quickly, but we brought a member and she looooooves talking. Which is great! When I'm not sick. Anyway, so I was trying not to die and then it hit me. I HAVE TO POOP. Like so bad. And I was having terrible cramps and I was 90% sure I would poop my pants if I didn't run to a bathroom. I couldn't really decided which was worse - interrupt a spiritual lesson about baptism to clog her toilet or just to poop right there on her couch. So I'm poking my companion and silently pleading with her to PLEASE end this lesson, but it just wasn't working. The member was talking and Tigran was asking questions and I was sweating bullets. So right as my companion was going to ask her to be baptized, I burst and asked Sofia if I could go to the bathroom. Hahahaha ooooooh the Spirit was gone. BUT through a MIRACLE I made it short, got back out there, and ended up committing them both to baptism. Win.
Let me tell you something else. My body is so rockin here out on the mish. I can't even hold it in, I just have to brag about it. And it's great because our morning exercise time consists of us dragging ourselves out of bed to the other room where we lay on the floor and occassionally lift our legs in the air. Ha. Jokes. But literally, we hardly move. So I just lay there and do sit ups for a half hour and now I have abs of STEAL. And then I do planks and other yoga stuff for like a minute and the rest of our exercise comes from walking around all day. It's great, especially because I'm a stress eater and so I eat a LOT here.
I had my first "tausch" (exchange) last week and I went up to Rostock. Exchanges are the weirdest things ever, especially here because I ended up just being on a train longer than I actually did missionary work for those 24 hours. But the sister I was with was pretty cool and Rostock looks awesome from what little I saw of it. You should google map it or something.
Well, I've officially started my 2nd transfer. Don't know how I made it this far.
I love you all.
Sister Young
It's cold here in Hamburg. -9 degrees C and my toes have almost frozen off. Hopefully Spring comes soon.
Good news! We have 2 more baptismal dates. And we're so excited, because one of them is Sofia!!!! She's awesome. She's already read half the Book of Mormon. And she always tells us she believes in God and Jesus Christ 150% hahaha.
The other baptismal date is Tigran, the son of one of Sofia's friends. He stays with Sofia often and for the last week and a half or so he's been coming to lessons with Sofia and became really interested. He's got some...interesting ideas. BUT he's been so open and absolutely loved Institute and he's changed so much. It's been amazing to watch this transformation.
Bahahaha funny story. So we were over at Sofia's place last week teaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ and getting ready to ask her to be baptized. I wasn't feeling well earlier so we were hoping to get through the lesson quickly, but we brought a member and she looooooves talking. Which is great! When I'm not sick. Anyway, so I was trying not to die and then it hit me. I HAVE TO POOP. Like so bad. And I was having terrible cramps and I was 90% sure I would poop my pants if I didn't run to a bathroom. I couldn't really decided which was worse - interrupt a spiritual lesson about baptism to clog her toilet or just to poop right there on her couch. So I'm poking my companion and silently pleading with her to PLEASE end this lesson, but it just wasn't working. The member was talking and Tigran was asking questions and I was sweating bullets. So right as my companion was going to ask her to be baptized, I burst and asked Sofia if I could go to the bathroom. Hahahaha ooooooh the Spirit was gone. BUT through a MIRACLE I made it short, got back out there, and ended up committing them both to baptism. Win.
Let me tell you something else. My body is so rockin here out on the mish. I can't even hold it in, I just have to brag about it. And it's great because our morning exercise time consists of us dragging ourselves out of bed to the other room where we lay on the floor and occassionally lift our legs in the air. Ha. Jokes. But literally, we hardly move. So I just lay there and do sit ups for a half hour and now I have abs of STEAL. And then I do planks and other yoga stuff for like a minute and the rest of our exercise comes from walking around all day. It's great, especially because I'm a stress eater and so I eat a LOT here.
I had my first "tausch" (exchange) last week and I went up to Rostock. Exchanges are the weirdest things ever, especially here because I ended up just being on a train longer than I actually did missionary work for those 24 hours. But the sister I was with was pretty cool and Rostock looks awesome from what little I saw of it. You should google map it or something.
Well, I've officially started my 2nd transfer. Don't know how I made it this far.
I love you all.
Sister Young
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