January 6, 2014

This week was fun! I think every week is an adventure, so I am glad I get the opportunity to write about it electronically for the things I do not always have time to write in the journal. Plus, typing is way faster.

Last week for P-day we went to Köln (Cologne) and went to a big music store called The Music Store (original, I know). That was really cool to see all the different kinds of instruments they had and different keyboards one can buy. I was disappointed in their selection of Grand Pianos to play, as they had none, but it seemed like they had a wide variety of really pretty-looking guitars. That was obviously their focus. That was fun to see, though!

Tuesday (Silvester/New Year's Eve) was great because a member invited us over for food. The entire mission was required to stay in their Wohnungs from 6:00 through the rest of the night. My companion made home-made noodles while I finished transcribing some music that was falling apart. We even went to bed early!!
And then 12:00 hit. BOOM. HUGE! I think fireworks in Germany must cost less, because every single person has some to set off for the "Rusch" into the new year. The night sky was quite a spectacle for the next half hour. It was full of wonderful color and obnoxiously loud war noises. Honestly it would have been cool if I were not so angry for being woken up from my beauty sleep. Needless so say, I started the New Year very ugly.

Speaking of ugly (or not), my companion cut my hair today! It looks normal, so I am completely happy with it. Way to go talented comp! He's cool.

Leider, he's not going to be here after Thursday. That means he is getting transferred and I am "taking over" the area. AHHHHHHHHHH! That makes me quite nervous, honestly. But the great thing is, I know that President Schwarz  is a very inspired man. He works only through inspiration and he clearly knows that I am supposed to be here right now. I trust him, so we will see what happens!!! Change is such a constant, so I do not know why it caught me by surprise.

We celebrated the New Year with a few other families who are trying to do great work. Again, I ate Raclette, which I officially decided I MUST have in America in the future. Good stuff.

Friday. Woah, the world is small. So, there is a YSA in the ward named Pascal Friedman. He is a convert of about two years and he recently got back from studying in Utah at Weber State because he is going on his mission in March. I found out that Pascal once went on a date with Mallori Swenson (I was really excited about that) and that he is the facebook admin of a group called "The Army of Helaman" (or something similar), where he saw the web address for the blog Mom posts these letters to. He's read that blog! Isn't that funny?? He knows more about my mission than anyone else in the ward does. I really like Pascal and am extremely excited to work with him more as he helps us connect electronically with the ward and hopefully with investigators. The work is moving forward!

Our recently baptized member, Bruder Jensen, is someone every member can learn from. He had his parents over for dinner with us so we could teach them. He also set up an appointment for us to teach his friend about Jesus Christ (with whom we also practice Wing-Tsung Kung-Fu). He wants others to hear about the gospel of Jesus Christ and pitches in his own ideas of what these people he cares about need and how we can help them. Dear member-missionaries (AKA all members): you can learn from this wonderful man.

Also, I finished the New Testament. I learned a lot about the nature of the Godhead and the relationship between Christ and Heavenly Father and the Holy Ghost. I started the Old Testament. Phew, that's a big boy!

Well, I will have a new companion to talk about next week! I am excited to see who else I am fortunate enough to work with, although it's sad how short I got to work with Elder Robinson. Change! Take it as a change -- I learned that from acting Ü.

Liebe Grüße, Elder Jack