Busy week...

Mensch, mensch, mensch, the week slipped by so fast, like a rug being pulled out from under my feet! Mainly because this week was not only ZONE CONFERENCE but also TAUSCH!

Zone Conference was really cool, because Sis. Neukomm and I were asked to teach one of the smaller Themas to our zone about "bearing testimony frequently." It went really well, except the Elders before us took up a lot of our time so we had to shorten it, but you know how it goes. We talked about how bearing testimony always invites the Spirit to support what we say and that he will "carry our message to their hearts"--and Sis. Neukomm likened the Spirit unto her Swiss Army knife (which all the Elders drooled over). She asked the group, "What is a Swiss Army knife useful for?" and one of the Elders said in quiet awe, "Everything." It was so ridiculous. But funny. I guess that means there are pictures on the blog!

After Zone Conference, we had our Tausch, and one of the Sisters from Rostock came to work with me in EHS for the day--and Tausch is pretty funny because if you get to serve somewhere else, it's like a sleepover. But if you stay, you have to plan EVERYTHING out so that you get something accomplished so the Tausch itsn't a total waste of time. Which sometimes it does because there's so much travel involved to switch back and go back home. A lot of the travel time was me getting to know this Sister Cläy, who's pretty awesome. It was funny because I got to tell her about my book that I was writing at home and she was really curious to know about the plot and all, and I sort of sat back and thought, "Mensch, it's been a while since I've worked on that thing!" I would almost forget that I'm a writer, except everyone I meet asks me about my future plans and goals. I also realized that my book is accidentally like a missionary story, since my main character has to travel from city to city and sometimes she and her friend or "companion" don't always get along. Na ja, mal sehen!

But for Tausch, we had our English class like usual at the end of a long Tuesday (Zone Conference takes up practically the whole day), and then Wednesday was a lot of trying to visit contacts that we haven't had time to visit (or don't have time for us), and that involved a lot of bike riding, but the weather was AMAZING so it was so eine gute Idee.

We also met with our new Golden Indian investigator--we've literally met with her every 2 days for the past two weeks. Mensch, she's totally amazing but has (you guessed it) a major hurdle in her path. Since she comes from a very conservative culture, it's already "abnormal" that she is able to study away from home, but her family basically picked out her future husband for her (and she can't say no) so that she has a reason for eventually coming home. So for her, having agency is a big deal for her--that we tell her SHE can choose what she does in her life, that her life hasn't been already written for her. But she's worried if she chooses to follow Christ, it will really drive a wedge in her family, and it might make it harder for her younger siblings to be married, too. It blows my mind how some parts of the world still have these traditions and makes it so hard for young women like Parmeere to be independent like they want to be. It makes me very grateful that I've never had that problem! So we're praying night and day for her to decide where she wants to go and who she wants to be--and that Heavenly Father will bless her if she does decide to be baptized. But that's the thing--she REALLY wants to be baptized! So we hope that her courage will come through for her and we can help her. We found out that there are two converts in Rostock that come from the same region of India and had sort of the same problems, and so we're going to make sure they talk with each other. I'm so excited to see what this week will bring!

Thursday was "Frauentag" which is kinda like Mother's Day only for all women (don't worry, they still have Mother's Day) and we got tiny tiny pots of flowers from a member we visited that day. We sort of have a tiny windowsill full of easy-to-care-for flowers so we have a bit of color in our apartment. :)

We're also still teaching our Dönermann--it's cool when a Dönerman is a progressive investigator, because he keeps his commitments! He was really excited to start reading the Book of Mormon in his own language.

We also taught a part-member Ehepaar, which was interesting because before we taught our lesson, Sis. Neukomm brought cheese that her parents sent her to make REAL Swiss Cheese Fondue! Mensch that was a lot of sharp cheese, and you know how I'm nooooot too big of a melted-cheese fan. But on a mission, missionaries aren't allowed to dislike anything! One tactic I've learned is when I have to eat Rotkohl (which I'm sorry, it's just icky), I eat it with a big mouthful of potatoes, meat and gravy so I hardly notice it's there. MEeeeeensch.

Another big part of the week, was that we were invited to sing at a baptism in Glenike, a part of northern Berlin, with another pair of Sisters. It was really really cool to go to a baptism as a missionary, especially because I don't think I've been to a baptism for a convert before (if I have, I can't remember), and meine gute, the air was static with the Spirit. Parmeere was going to come with us but she couldn't make it at the last moment, but we brought a younger investigator with us (we aren't technically teaching lessons yet because we're waiting for the mom to be more comfortable with it) so she could see what a "real" church building looks like, since ours is a level above a restauraunt. She didn't really have questions, but she really liked the whole trip and being able to see the baptism, even for someone we really didn't know. She likes American music, and learning English, so she practiced with me for most of the train ride there and back, until she was like, "okay, enough English!" Try speaking German 90% of the week!

AAAAand of course Sunday was wonderful. The weather was really great, good day at church with investigators, and then best part of all--two Sisters from Cottbus came to visit me! It was a big surprise, Sis. Münch and Sis. Seidl know a few members in our branch and came to visit us at church and then we went to eat lunch with them and these two members, Sis. Lassman and Sis. Urlaub. It was really really cool! They updated me on the ward of course, and Katrin, who I used to teach during a investigator Sunday School class is going to be baptised! Her husband was probably the most happily surprised of us all, and she'll be baptized I think in a few weeks. Also Chi-Yu comes regularly to church, which makes me happy to hear. Sounds like the Sisters still meet with Anna, which was what I wanted to hear. :) The thing I liked about our little lunch get-together, is that all four ladies are what they call themselves "Apple Omas" because they all use Ipads or Iphones for all the church materials there are to be found in German, and they use Skype and Facebook to stay connected. Way to be! haha. Sis. Münch made us show her our homes on Google Earth, so she could see Kansas and Wintertor, Switzerland. Das war krass, or "cool". (I hope I spellt that right).

So to me it felt like we didn't do a lot, because we had LOTS of traveling on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, so this week will be great--we can relly work our tails off before DUN DUN DUUUUUN---TRANSFER CALLS! I always get antsy the week before transfer calls, because I wonder if I'll have to stay or pack--or who my companion will be next transfer. I really really like working with Sis. Neukomm, so I hope we both get to stay--we need to stay and help Parmeere!!!! There's something special about an investigator that KEEPS COMMITMENTS and wants to find answers! So we'll see where I'll be next transfer! (Sis. Münch of course says I should go back to Cottbus, I have mixed feelings about that).

So yeah! It sounds like the family is having fun on the big break, I really liked the report I got from Nicholas. Especially because his entire report about the Ripley's Believe it or Not Dingsbum was literally all just one long sentence. That kid is hilarious.

Also, reading Jordan's emails are hilarious. And weird--since when did Jordan become all mature and spiritual? haha.

Pretty cool extra tidbit--pretty soon Sis. Neukomm and I (or whoever stays) will be teaching a Mission Prep sort of class for two girls in our ward who want to go on missions within the next year--pretty cool!

Anyway, I think that's about it. I love seeing pictures of Mom and Justin holding trophies and wearing those heavy medals. I thought it was funny that people ask you where you store it all! Hopefully somewhere pretty fancy.

So here's hoping the next week will be A-MAZING! Every week I hope I can say, "We have a Taufdatum!" but Präsident tells us that the Lord gives blessings on His time, which is of course, always the right time, right place. I just hope someday I'll be at the right place and at the right time. But sometimes really helping innactives, new converts and members is just as taxing and worth it! Enduring to the end is just as important as baptism, so I'm happy to help where I'm needed.

I love you all! Keep it real! :P

love,
Sis. Whit