June 18, 2012

Oh my goooooooooooooooosh.

MITCHELL'S GOING TO HUNGARY ON HIS MISSION!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YAAAAAAAAYYYYYY!!!!!!!
The Young Family European Mission tradition continues. If I may quote Babe, "That'll do pig, that'll do."

Listen. So many funny things happened to me this week and I forgot my planner to remind me of these things. So I'm sorry, maybe they'll come back.

First things first. BERLIN IS THE COOLEST CITY EVER. Ok, I said it. Now don't be too worried, I would still say I prefer Paris. And Hamburg is very near and dear to my heart. And Berlin is pleasantly awesome. It's so old and cool looking and just jam-packed with history, and the places that aren't old or super historical are covered in crazy art! Seriously, this city has found a way into my heart.

BUT. The people here are a lot ruder than in Hamburg. Don't know why. Talking to people on the street is a lot different. Have I already mentioned this before? Probably. Just so you know, it's still true.

Another complaint. This is my first day in Berlin without a coat. IT IS JUNE. I WEAR COATS. The weather is ridiculous.

Not another complaint. I got asked out again! Bahahahaha BERLIN IS FULL OF NUTSIES. This time these 2 really nice young dudes came up to Sister Uhlig and I and asked if we wanted to get something to eat. We told them we can't, we're with a church and blah blah blah. But then they started asking all these questions about God and it was cool. They were super nice! Sister Uhlig was still in shock after the fact but I feel like a pro. Ha.

Other funny story. Just a couple hours before we were asked out by those lovely young men, some crazy drunk men asked me if I would like to have sex! I declined, much to their dismay. I told them I was a nun and I don't want to have sex with them. Then they left after Sister Uhlig told them we're in love with Jesus baahaha.

Also. Crazy thing about Berlin. There are remnants of the wall all over the place, and where it isn't standing anymore there's a line that indicates where it was. The wall ran through a ton of the places where we spend most of our days, and a lot of times you can tell that the wall went right down the street because one side looks completely different than the other. It's crazy to think that it wasn't so long ago, and now I'm walking right down the middle of these streets where the wall stood! Also you can totally tell the difference among the older people if they grew up in the east or not. They have a completely different mindset, especially when it comes to religion. Weird weird weird.

The work is great. We had some investigators tschüss (not want to meet) us this week, which always sucks, but we're going strong and not giving up! We even had a lesson yesterday with an awesome Korean man and he told us that at the beginning of our lesson he had every intention of not meeting with us again but after we bore our testimonies he would give it some more time. Go go go go go. We will win because God wants us to.

I love you all. Don't forget about me. Pray for world peace. The end.

Sister Young

ps. You should all go to the mission blog because there is a very good picture of me up. Ha.

June 11, 2012

Hi hi hi.

I am right this very second in the heart of the biggest city in Germany!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! FREAKING OUT.

Listen. There are so many people here. Everyday. Everywhere. Speaking every language possible. I still can't believe how many Americans we run into in a day. It's WEIRD. But there are a ton of Asians so I am officially pleased with my new area.

Also if you're cultured at all you would know that the Euro Cup for soccer is going down right now in the neighboring country of Poland and everyone is going PHYSCHO. German flags everywhere and crazy drunk people waving them in your face. Also maybe they have public viewings of the games and maaaaaaybe we go in a weird way to get to our appointments and pass by these giant screens. Maybe.

So let me just tell you that we have set 4 new baptismal dates this week which puts us at 7 people on date. We have 11 progressing investigators and basically I'm just trying to say that missionary work is a lot different here in Berlin. It's awesome. Also we teach 2 people from France and one from Mali (french-speaking country in Africa) soooooooo hopefully I'll get my frenchy vibe on soon and win win win.

Oh. I should probably tell you that I have a new companion! Duh. Her name is Sister Uhlig and (praise to God above) she's from Germany! We have a lot of fun together so I already know this transfer is gonna be good. Also she's going home very soon so I'll probably be with her to the end. Yay!

Mmk mmk. Funny story of the week.

So Sister Uhlig and I are coming out of the subway station when this dude (maybe around 25 or something) approaches me at the bottom of the stairs. Sister Uhlig doesn't see this so she just keeps going up the stairs and LEAVES ME ALONE. Anyways. So this guy taps my shoulder and asks if he can speak to me for a minute. And this is the conversation:
Dude: "I know this is a little weird, but I've seen you several times today and I just wanted to tell you that I find you very attractive."
Me: "Uhhhhhh..."
Dude: *holds out his hand* "My name's Markus."
---It occurs to me right at this second that this is a PERFECT opportunity to snap out of my shock and use my status as a NUN to get out of this situation---
Me: "I'm Sister Young!"
Dude: "...what?"
Me: "My name is Sister Young and I come from a church!"
Dude: "YOU'RE RELIGIOUS?!?!"
Me: "Yes of course! Are you?!"

And then! He was gone. Bahahahahaha poor guy. He really was nice. Props to him for finding the courage to talk to a stranger, even if he did just want to get in my pants.

I hope you all have a wonderful week!!!! Love you to pieces.

Love,
Sister Young

June 4, 2012

This week was transfer calls. I will tell you the results!...later.

First things first, I have a million things to say that happened this week. And I will make a list because I really really like lists.

1.) I have taken Brent's advice and started to make a list in my journal of all the different countries in the world that I have met people from here on my mission. So far I have over 50 countries and counting! So if you thought that I'm serving my mission in Germany, think again. It's basically the Middle East and Africa hahaha.

2.) I am addicted to Tic Tacs. I don't know why, but every week without fail I buy the biggest package of them available. IT'S WEIRD.

3.) I GOT TO SEE HEIDI AND ANDREW!!!!!!!!!!! And in case you were wondering, I really did make them do missionary work. You can ask them. We visited old people and talked to weirdies on the street. And we also ate a döner but I WAS HUNGRY STOP JUDGING ME. Anyway. It was soooooooo good to see them!!! I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!

4.) We have met a new man named Vincent (pronounced Frenchy, so minus the "t," and yes he's German) and he is really chic and awesome and we have an appointment with him today. Best part? HE'S A PERSONAL SHOPPER. Best appointments ever? Yes.

5.) There is an African in our ward that is always trying to pinch our noses. Why, you might ask? "I really like white women's noses. I can't help but touch them!" Bahahahaha WEIRDO.

6.) In case you were wondering, King Benjamin was a socialist. Read Mosiah 4. LOVE IT. JOIN US.

7.) So every Saturday we invite investigators to play soccer and it's awesome. WELL. Last Saturday one of the Elders fell down and scraped his knee pretty bad. Naturally, I pulled out my pads and slapped one on his knee and Sister Moon taped it around his leg. Resourceful? YES. He was only a little embarrassed, don't worry.

8.) This lady in our ward had a birthday party in the church and invited like a million nonmembers so we had to go. LOVE WHEN THAT HAPPENS. Best part ever? It was a laugh yoga party. It was HILARIOUS. I can't even describe it, please youtube it or something. I almost peed my pants it was the funniest thing ever.

9.) Last night we were over at my favorite members' house and the dad told us to try this "grapejuice" that was called Chardonnay and smelled like alcohol. We took a sip and we're pretty sure it is just grapejuice, but it tasted bitter and weird!!!!!! So we made fun of him the rest of the night. Then I got really weird so we went home. Oops.

10.) Ok. Transfer call results.

This is bad.

I'm freaking out.

What do I do?

I don't know.

I...

am...

going...

to...








BERLIN.

Like, the very most central part. Right smack dab in the middle of the biggest city in Germany. I'M GOING TO DIE.

And in case you were wondering, I cried like a baby at church when I had to say goodbye to everyone. It was awful. And saying goodbye to Yalda and her mom was the worst thing ever, I totally lost it at our appointment. I HATE TRANSFERS.

My new area is called Tiergarten (Animal Garden) and it really is the very middle of Berlin. It's half the former East and half the West. Apparently there are a million people always everywhere you look and our area is very very small. BUT I'm sure it's great and whatever. I'm just having a hard time letting go.

Pray for me. Don't forget about me. And if anyone else wants to fly to Germany and "run into me" it's probably ridiculously possible because I'm right in the touristy part of Berlin. Just a thought.

I love you all!!!!!!!

Love,
Sister Young

May 28, 2012

Haaaaaaaapy birthday to ME.

Thank you all for your birthday cards and packages and love. It was a really really super day, especially because it was Zone Conference and I didn't have to have a normal missionary day!! Ha ha ha!!!

Also some people in the ward love me lots and lots and made me food and wonderful things. BUT I should tell you that for some unknown reason I have been collecting German children stories that I read for my language study and my favorite lady in ward gave me a complete Brothers Grimm Fairytales set!!!!!!!!!!! I cried a little bit, maybe. It's AWESOME. So yes, I will read you bedtime stories in German when I get back. And then you will have nightmares because they're in German. Ha.

So listen. We found a wonderful new investigator from Afghanistan named Fatima. The problem? She doesn't speak German. Not even a little bit. So we went over for our appointment and much to her dismay her son couldn't stay to translate! So we ended up trying to communicate - always an adventure. We managed to find out that several members in her family have died recently from the Taliban. Also she was married at 10 years old and had her first son at 13! As she was telling us about her life she just started to bawl. Oh we felt so bad, we didn't know what to do! So we asked if we could pray with her. Sister Schaerr gave a beautifuly simple prayer and asked God to bless this wonderful woman and her family. Right after the prayer she grabbed all of us (totally a surprise) and hugged us till we couldn't breathe. She kept kissing our necks and saying, "Danke, Danke, Danke!" Needless to say, it was a beautiful experience. We love meeting with her and we also teach her son now! Yay :)

Speaking of prayer, Yalda prayed!!!!!!! I am so proud of her. She told us that one day she asked her mom if they could go to the park. Her mom said no, so she went into her room and "prayed exactly like we told her." In her (translated) words:
"I remember that you told me that when we talk to God we say what is in our heart. I really wanted to go to the park that day so I prayed really hard that Mom would let me. Then right after I stopped Mama came in and told me that she changed her mind and we could go!"
Is that not the most adorable thing you've ever heard? The best part is that Yalda immediately told her mom what she had done and it made a big impact on her. Things are starting to roll!!!!

Speaking of things rolling, a man pooped is pants on the train yesterday. Bahhahahahahahahaha. It smelled SO nasty and I have never seen anyone run as fast as he did off that train. Poor guy.

Here are some pictures. The adorable little girl is Yalda and Frau Bastan-Mehr is the unbelievably gorgeous woman in purple. I hope you like them.

LOVE YOU ALL.

Sister Young

May 21, 2012

Hello hello hello. Let's start off by reminding you that my birthday is on Thursday and you are more than welcome to think of me the entire day. You're welcome. Last week an Indian couple in the ward gave me a saari for my birthday!!!!!! Is that even how you spell it? I DON'T KNOW. Doesn't matter. It's beautiful and maybe ridiculously skanky. I'll modify it, have no worries. Also I punched an Elder last week. But that's only because he was being the most annoying person in the world. He deserved it. Also WORST THING EVER. Not really, but it was scary. It's called: MY COMPANIONS MADE ME TALK TO A JEHOVAH'S WITNESS BY MYSELF. With no disrespect to the religion, they are the bane of our missionary existence. And talking to them is sometimes like bashing your head against a wall because they love to tell you that God is Jehovah and that's all they really like to argue. Anyway. So this particular day my companions were going around talking to peeps a little ahead of me while I talked to people by myself. We can't all do it together because then it looks like we will eat them and they hate it. So I'm bouncin' around, doing my missionary job, and I stop this lady and start to talk to her. Oh wait. She's a JW and she was waiting for her companion to come so they could go talk to people too!!!! AWKWARD. Well she ended up being pretty nice and she took one of our cards. We talked for awhile and, of course, she asked me what God's name is. I told her it's Elohim and she was like what the heck? It blew her mind of course because she had never heard that. So secretly she wanted to learn more but she couldn't because she was scared/her companion was coming. But all in all it wasn't so bad and I was able to tell her about the Restoration and I could see something click in her eyes! She didn't even try to refute it! I WIN. Mmk. Remember how I told you that we flirt to convert? Well we did it times ten this week. And it was awesome. Story time. So we were walking to an appointment when we see these 3 young looking dudes (and by young I mean our age) riding bikes and looking very lost. They saw us and I guess we looked like we knew what's up because they stopped us for directions. Funny thing: they are all attractive AND French. Did I die a little bit? YES. Anyway so we directed them towards a restaurant where they could watch a football (soccer) game. We of course talked about who we were and gave them our cards. They invited us to come with but we sadly declined. WELL. A little bit later it totally hit us that we are IDIOTS and we should have worked harder to get them to agree to meet us. THEY WOULD DO IT. So we marched over to that street and walked up and down it until they came out. Yes, they totally did. Then we got their number and we organized a giant soccer game with the Elders and other YSA people and they're coming!!!!!! HA. Anyways. I love you all. Don't forget about me. Sister Young 

May 14, 2012

So so so. This week was boring. Every week was boring. Except! I got to skype my family :) That's the best, always. Except it felt like it was only 10 minutes long. I'm pretty sure it was. Poooooooooooo. So Hamburg is still freezing. It's unnatural! The weather is fine everywhere else except here. I still wear tights and boots and a coat. Can I kill the weather? Yes. But I do have to say it is beautiful. Really really really. It rains a lot here so it's very green and everything is blooming and it's wonderful. WUNDERBAR. Except let me tell you a little problem called I get bugs in my hair errrrrday. That's a cool way of saying EVERYDAY. It's disgusting. My companions and I feel like monkeys, we're always going through each other's hair picking out ants and spiders and other weird things that we haven't named yet. But it's worth it to have so many beautiful plants and trees and things. Our boundaries are the boonies of Hamburg so I'll have to send some pictures sometime of the awesome farmlands we get to track in. Also let me just confess this right off the bat - we flirt to convert. Or more accurately, we bat our eyelashes a little to get people to agree to come to church or meet with us. I'm not even ashamed. It totally worked for some people who later became progressing investigators. And sometimes we get creepers. But either way we get those so WHATEVER. Anyway. So there's this dude that loves to flirt with us everytime he sees us, but the difference is everytime I talk to this man I'm really mean and sassy. He loves it for some reason. So the other day we got on the same bus and he was talking and I was telling him what a butt face he is. So then he says, "Sister Young, I can really see something special in your eyes. It's magical," to which I responded, "It's Jesus." Everybody started cracking up around us and I told him he needs to come to church or we would never speak to him again. He didn't show up but I wouldn't be surprised if we met him again. Ha. Ok so these other Elders in our district had a baptism the other day so we went to support it. Also the girl that got baptized is American and we LOVE her so of course we had to go. Well guess what. She is married to this famous singer who's also American but is apparently only really popular in Germany. His name is Dante Thomas, in case you wanted to youtube him. ANYWAY the baptism was awesome and I got to meet a famous person and we're going out to lunch with her this week! I'm stoked. That's basically all. Reminder: my birthday is coming up. This is a chance for some of you weenies to find an excuse to write me!!!!!!!!! I'm really lonely. Ok loves loves and more loves. Sister Young

May 7, 2012

Hello hello hello. I have recently found out that all my blog posts are super weirdy-looking and make all my emails into one giant paragraph. This is stupid, and I'm sorry it keeps doing that. Let me tell you, not many things happened this week. We had a total of zero investigators at church, and we haven't been able to meet with Familie Bastan-Mehr this week :( We taught a total of TWO LESSONS to investigators and TWELVE to members. We are SUCKING. One of the member lessons/eating appointments we had this week was with a lovely lady who was baptized a little over a year ago. She used to be a traveling singer back in the day and she speaks FRENCH. So, naturally, she dusted off her old Edith Piaf records and we spent a lovely time eating lunch and listening to my favorite French singer in the entire world. I am so trunky for France. WHY AM I IN GERMANY?!?!?!?!?!!?!? Whatever. Embarrassing story of the week. Ready set go. So there is this ancient man in our ward that we teach who is also crazy. Anyway. So he's really sick and has had a lot of falls lately. The problem is that he lives alone and sometimes he'll fall and nobody knows for days until his doctor comes to visit or something. The other day we had an appointment with him and he didn't answer, which is weird because he calls several times in the week to remind us that we need to come visit. So we had someone else buzz us in and we knocked on his door - nothing. We call him like 50 times and we could hear his cell ringing inside the apartment. We don't know what to do so we call his hometeacher, who tells us to get the man in charge of the building to open up his door. Well, that man was a pile of poop and said he'd only open up for police. So we call the hometeacher back who says we should call the police. After much hesitation we call and relate our concerns and are very clear on the fact that we have no idea if this is a real emergency, we just need permission to open up the door. So then what happens? The fire department came. They brought a bunch of tools to knock down his door and we were FREAKING OUT. So these 2 police officers come and bang on his door really loud and good ole Bruder Wölfl wakes up from his hangover/nap and then everyone left. And you can bet that when he asked why the police came we blamed it on his hometeacher. Ha. Don't forget my birthday. Or me. Or how amazing French movies and food and music and everything about France is. I love yous! Sister Young