Doing great

Yuuup, on Feb 3rd, it's my 6 month mark. As I enjoy saying, HOLY MEINE FRIGGIN GUTE. That's all I have to say about that.

Wow, Jordo getting a new MTC date! I've heard about the new changes and they're actually a lot better. For one thing, I love the MTC and all, but it's a straight up Gefängnis! I couldn't wait to get out of there!! Mainly because I knew I was heading to Germany and to be there versus a small plot of MTC ness, it was almost claustrophobic or something, I had to get out! So the fact that Jordan won't have to stay for 12 weeks, I'm tellin' ya, it'd be the longest 12 weeks of his LIFE. Jordan, that's like a SEMESTER in the MTC, *shudders.* What I know they've been doing with newer missionaries here, is that instead of the 2-3 extra weeks in the MTC, he'll get the same stuff just in the form of DVD study materials that he'll do with his trainer. It's like a vamped up version of companion study--portable DVD player, anyone? It's really cool from what I'Ve heard. It really shows how much they REALLY trust missionaries these days! So don't mess it up for the rest of the new missionaries, okay?

Okay, our week was wiggity WACK.

First off, on Tuesday we had Zone Conference, which was of course TOTALLY awesome and it's really like Themas I needed this week. Also, reading the January Liahona was the best, almost every article was for me. And before my mission, I just looked at the pictures! Now I digest every word I can get, and now I'll have to wait until Präsident's interviews for our next edition, mensch. I was also really happy to get 5 letters, because of the transfer, I got letters that were sent to Cottbus by mistake and letters that people sent to the mission office because I didn't know my new address. I actually got a really nice card from Sis. Cusick! It was really nice! Tell her thank you for me! I ALSO got a letter from my favorite fav, Anna. Her daughter drew a picture of her family and me with a companion which was absolutely niedlich. Anna's letter, meine gute, so precious. She said she and the kids were really sad when they got my letter saying I moved to a new city, but she said that on Christmas they read together some stories from the Kinder Book of Mormon I gave them in Hungarian and her daughter really loved it. Ahh! But we will definitely keep in touch, I'm sure she still meets with the Sisters--otherwise I'd get on their case for it!

Also fun story: we have an investigator, Jeffrey a refugee from Africa, who met with us this past week and he's like, REALLY interested in being baptized. He's one of those investigators we thought didn't have much interest, but he keeps his commitments and reads, and even asks, "Is is okay if I bring a friend to church? I told him about the church and he wants to come." He's doing missionary work already and he doesn't know it! We asked him to pray about a date, since we've only taught him the Restoration. Pretty cool, huh?

Chanrith finally came to church after 2 weeks of not being able to set up an appoitment with him. We put a card in his Briefkasten telling him that God answers prayers for everything, even for help with finding work and finishing essays! He said it really meant a lot to him and he came to church with us, and is now friends with another investigator, Hans who tries speaking English with him. He won't really set any fest Termines with us because he's working on a paper and doesn't really know when he'll really be done, a typical student thing, I know that story. So at least we know he still wants to meet with us, this paper is just really stressing him out. But him coming to church--mirrrracle!

This week in general has been admitedly hard on both of us when it's been coming to finding. It's not easy to hear a 1000 no's and then 1 yes, because this week, the 7 yes's we found hung up the reciever when we klingled back. It's really not that fun, mainly because we spend so much time trying to find people and no one wants to be found. Which is why reading the Ensign this past month and reading in Alma has really, really been helpful. Sometimes focusing on the 1000 no's makes me blind to tiny other miracles, but just letting go of the crap that gets shoved our way helps me focus and helps me realize that Christ asks for my best, and that's what I'm trying to give. Sis. Neukomm and I have really felt like scum some moments and then good as gold the next, and it just comes with the work sometimes, because you realize as a missionary that missionaries are (gasp) NOT perfect! Mensch, so I hope Jordan realizes that if he feels overwhelmed trying to be perfect, then he knows how I feel.

But the silly thing, is that when we counted up our numbers from this past week, the number of lessons we taught and how many people came to church, we taught 22 lessons! A week of feeling like we got nothing accomplished and we exceeded our goals! So it's really a sign for me that I just have to take a chill pill and enjoy my time instead of worrying or focusing on silly things.

I realized, though, how happy my work really makes me feel when I talked to Carolin about it. She's a new convert that will turn in her mission papers this year (yay! She's so Golden!) and part of our work is continually teaching new converts everything, so they've heard all the lessons at least twice. And we taught her the basics of a Patriarchal Blessing and how they've really blessed us as missionaries. And we just went on and on about the blessings and what it's like to be a missionary--the good, the bad and the ugly! She gets really excited and just eats everything up!

Church was also great--I still have to take Advil but if I take it earlier enough, my headaches go away before they become migranes. We had 8 people come, yay! Sometimes it's hard to remind Sis. Neukomm that we actually ARE doing a great job, for the level we're at, and all the people we juggle each week. We've been also really just super human this week--we ran all the way to Bahnhof once this week and made our train just barely in 15min--what is usually a 10min Straßenbahn ride. MENSCH. Sis. Neukomm is gonna kill me! Yesterday we also biked across Eisenhüttenstadt to try and meet with a contact (pretty golden until she hung up on us) using bikes from a family in the Branch and THEN ran to Bahnhof to go back home. Although I'm way better at biking. It was a pretty wild time.

The ward is starting to warm up to me, because I don't think they realized that each of the past 4 Sundays I have to work through headaches, they thought I was always depressed or sad or not wanting to be there. GREAT, right? I've explained it before to them, especially Präsident Heitbreder, but that didn't really work, I suppose. Each new missionary bastelns these little "about me" things and posts it on the bulletin board (they keep those things for eons) and I finished mine a few weeks ago and they just now started commenting on it. It's pretty cool. And I made this cool necklace the other day and they want to know how to make it, along with the young women, and Carolin want me to help them with sewing, like making skirts and stuff. I've already warned them that any kind of sewing machine projects have always been under the supervision of an expert (that's mom, in case anyone didn't know)! So yeah, pretty random. Präsident Heitbreder even wants me to teach the youth some line dances! What the flip!? But he and his wife always have these random ideas and as long as no one reminds them, they don't remember! They're fun though.

Everyone in Germany is praying for snow. ANYTHING to make it less cold outside. Mensch, I cannot go outside without a fashionable hat anymore, it's just suicide! It's been -1 C this whole week and I think today it's colder. I don't know how much that is in Farenheit, but it's daaaang cold out there!

I think that's about it--next week should definitely be way fun--I'm going on Tausch this week with some sisters--Elders Tausch a lot more often, but with Sisters it's usually once a transfer--and I'll be serving for a day in Tiergarten (Berlin) again. Wish me luck!

I love you guys! The Church is true! Tschüüüüüüüs!

--love,
Whit