March 26, 2012

Hello,

thanks for Giselle's address, ill prolly get a letter out to her soon, and the rest of the giminezesheybgjs 

yeah, this week was pretty slow. We had schedualed alot of appointments, but basically all of them fell out. Its kinda stressful. Going down to Frankfurt tomorrow for interviews, that should be exciting. Yeah, I think the members are starting to open up a little more. We now have a ward mission leader, and I have a talk on the 22nd. Its only 5 min., so it should be a piece of cake. I figure, if I can whip out 10 minutes of german out of my butt, a prepared 5 minutes schould be nothing. Um, had an eating appointment yesterday. We had lasagna. Its funny that all the food you cooked at home I get here, basically. Sorry for being such a punk eater. Ill prolly eat everything when I get home, plus other stuff. Ill have to get a German recipe book. As to sending stuff home, Ill prolly keep it all. Costs too much to send, and I dont really have that much stuff. I have like one winter coat, and thats about it. Oh, thermals too. I prolly have more socks than anything. Yeah, if this makes you any more anxious, I have 22 weeks left :D. Tell joey Im a punk and have been real busy, but Ill get a letter out to him within the next couple weeks. Other than that, not much going on. Weathers been awesome. But, alas, with great weather comes 2 great downsides: Attractive women, and punk kids. Punk kids just chill at bahn stations and make fun of us. Its actually kinda funny. They know 2 words in english, the F bomb, and the B word lol. So its really easy to make them look like idiots. We´ve been doing a good job at that.Na ja, thats about it from my end. Not much else to say at the moment. Mothers Day is in, like, a month, so I guess Ill talk to you in a month lol. K, ima go now. Tschüß!

March 12- 19, 2012

MONDAY MARCH 19, 2012
im way glad to hear that the package made it lol. I had a nightmare that I got home, and it never got to you lol. I was just gunna ask about it today. Elder Light...he´s so funny lol. He´s in the same group as me. I cant even remember what the chocolates were. I hope you liked them- legit German chocolate. The bible is way cool. It was a gift from a member in Solingen. it was made in 1868, and its way fragile, so DONT TOUCH IT TOO MUCH. The same with the stein. That was a weihnachtsmarkt find for like 25€. Yeah, german zoos are the same. It was way cool, tho. It was only 4€, and there was like no one in the zoo. it was way sweet. D. Todd talked alot about alot of things. I dont have any notes infront of me, but he talked about working with the ward, repentance, Q&A, finding stuff, yeah. And in the German fireside (he had a translator) he talked about how hard times would be coming and how the people (that were at the fireside) said they would see the Lords work fufilled in their lifetime. And pres. Schwartz has been preping us for a "Ship the books" scenario, which is when we evacuate the country. He says hes got a bad feeling. Mal schauen. Transfers. Were staying together. This cycle is only 5 weeks long. Ive only got 3 more after this one. My return date is on August 31st (friday). But we havnt got trunky papers yet. Those should be coming fairly soon. I love Austin lol. I think he´ll do great in Italy. Im kinda jealous. But not really at the same time. I was thinking, Trav will prolly not be able to use my suitcases lol. They´re basically destroyed. Well, one of the wheels on the big one is. The cobbelstone is the worse enemy of missionaries. Itd be sweet to fly out to utah when you drop him off. I could stay with mission buds lol. Hey, you should get me Giselle's address before she goes on her mission thing. Did you know i havnt gotten mail since I was in Mannheim? And you know whats weird about it? it doesnt even bother me anymore lol. I figure, ill be back in like 5 months anyways, and im too busy here, so yeah. funny, gell? As to this week, it wasnt too bad. We had a couple lessons, but still doing alot of finding time. Oh, and between now and August, theres 51 new missionaries coming in. crazy. just like when we came in. But yeah, nothing much to report on. I think thats all I got. Ima go now. Have a nice week! Tschüß!
MONDAY MARCH  12, 2012
short letter, going to the zoo today. um, week was good, but slow. we tried to set bapt. date w/ an investigator like 6 times. she´s a dry member, she´s gotta say yes. D. Todd was sweet. there were only like 20-30 missionaries there, so it was pretty personal. Afterwards, i went to pee and one of the couple elders asked me what I thought of it. As I was talking about it, D. Todd came in and peed right next to me. Most awkward moment of my life. I dont think i had ever washed my hands so well after peeing. We held a nice conversation, tho. Yeah, im still in one suit. Ill prolly get a new one in August or something. You know, like, right before I get home. But yeah, he´ll be able to use alot of the stuff I have. Cant think of anything else at the moment. Transfer calls on saturday. Prolly staying here, but I never know anymore. K, gunna go now. Have a great week! tschüß!

March 5, 2012

Hello,
yes, i got the munz. thanks a bunch, we were able to get toliett paper and food to last long enough to get us to msf time. Its not really dragging, its actually going faster. this time last year i was saying, "I have a year and a half left", and now its, "I have less than 6 months left". pretty crazy. So, you don't have to get Travis some mission stuff, he´ll be able to take some of mine. And i can help decide from the list of things what he needs, cuz when I look back on it, I haven't used half the stuff i came over with, and you can usually find that stuff anywhere. You don't have to get him a backpack, either. Mines in perfect condition. And you should get his papers done by, like, may. Thatd be cooler. D. Todd is this Thursday from 2-9. The 1st 3 hours are just with us couple missionaries, and the other hours are for priesthood leadership/fireside. Should be pretty sweet. We think he´s gunna grill us. And no, my license isn't a big deal, its just kinda upsetting that we put so much money into it and have nothing to show for it. We´re playing füßball with the zone today, so thatll be pretty intense. Other than that, not much going on. Was another slow week. Lots of finding going on. We did however have 3 people at church yesterday. OH, get this: So there's this crazy lady here who gives the missionaries stuff. We´re not aloud to eat it cuz Pres. Ninow said it could be poisoned. But shes off the wall. She was also a former member, but i think got kicked-out. Anyway, she comes to church on fast Sunday to bear her testimony about how everyone is of the devil and she can see devils in the congregation and stuff. Not a good environment for investigators. Well, yesterday was Fast Sunday. And she was there. And Elder Owens and I had to bear our testimonies for a really long time so she couldn't. He only went up for like a minute or 2. Nearing the end of the meeting, as she was getting up, I bolted to the podium (having no idea what i was gunna talk about) and talked for 10 mintues about the Gospel of Jesus Christ (3rd lesson in Preach My Gospel). I basically taught the 3rd lesson. That gave her just enough time to talk for like 30 seconds. It was pretty close, but we got it. That's my fun story of the week. Oh, and on Wednesday this entire area of Germany is on strike with buses and stuff, so its gunna stink trying to go places. K, don't have much else to say. Hope you have a great week! Tschüß!

February 7 - February 27, 2012

February 27, 2012

HEY GUESS WHAT

SO, my return date changed again. Ill be home either the 30th or the 31st of August. Next cycle is another 5-weeker, so they keep cutting me down. So, companion and I are great. We get along pretty well. His name´s Elder Owens. He´s from South Dakota. He likes movies and everything. He wanted to go into film, but he´s not sure now. As for teaching, not so good. We have like 5 or 6 investigators but haven't been able to get in contact with any of them, so its been a lot of finding time. And yes, we have hot water again. Last pday was good. Our district is pretty cliquey, so Elder Owens and I usually just hang by ourselves. Not like the other districts Ive had. The districts from when I was in Mannheim were the best by far. Elder Keetch is coming back out in 2 weeks! D. Todd Christoferson is here next week. That´ll be cool. Its starting to warm up here. Oh, do you think it would be possible for me to get a little personal money? My companion and I are broke, and we have no food..Or toilet paper. The ward here is very old. And they don't really like us that much. They have no begeisterung for missionary work. We also don't have a ward mission leader. It pretty much stinks. I don't like it up here. Id rather be back down south. I'm going to try to go back to Weimar to end my mission. That would be sweet. Today for Pday we don't have anything planned, so we can just ausrüh. That's always nice. I think that's everything. I'm still working on my license stuff. The office told me to retry in Ktown, and I was like, *sigh* alright. So I did. Turns out in ktown it would have only taken me like 5 weeks to get it, so I was way pumped. So I got all the paperwork and everything ready to go, and I got transferred. So, I'm basically really ticked, cuz its almost been a year and I have nothing to show for it. And They told me I cant get the reimbursement of the 200€ Ive spent on this thing, cuz its "past the date of reimbursement" I'm still trying, but I'm just about ready to give up on it. its been a fruitless endeavor. Anyways, not much else to talk about. OH. TELL CHAD THAT I SUCK AND WISH HIM A HAPPY BIRTHDAY. Ive been in such a rush, and its always on my list of things to remember, but whatever gets on that list I don't ever remember. So tell him that. K, ima go now. Have a great week! Tschüß
February 20, 2012
 only have 13 minutes. gotta catch train. doing good. I'm jealous of them Travis and Chad being able to see Elder Holland. You asked what Joint teaching is...joint teach is someone who goes w/ missionaries to teach someone. We are going bowling today. Its a massive holiday today, a lot like Halloween. My companion had to shower with a ladel cuz there was no hot water. Eating really healthy now and drinking protein. Salmons pretty good. Working out every morning and night. gunna get buff. 6 months till sexy. k tschüß

February 13, 2012
 Don't have a lot of time today, we´re pretty stressed on time. So, yeah, so far things are great. I think I was just upset to be whitewashed again, and it was like watching all the hard work we´d done get flushed down the toilet. But yeah, things here are going really well. We actually do get along great, maybe it was just the beginning of the mission or something, but then, it is only 5 days in, so we´ll see. We almost set a baptism date on Saturday night for this coming saturday, but our joint teach ruined it. Our goal is 6 baptisims this cycle. We´re pretty sure we´re gunna get it, its just gunna take a butt ton of work. The weather here is still freezing, but one gets kinda used to it. Now how would I hear that Shalese is gunna be an aunt? I dont get letters anymore. But yeah, pretty uneventful week. Just trying to get adjusted to the new area. Oh, we´re gunna see D. Todd Christopherson in a couple weeks. Cool, gell? Its just for our 2 zones (Dortmund & Düsseldorf) So itll be sweet. K, gotta go to Dortmund now. Tschüß!

February 7, 2012

  Last weeks pday was also kinda fail. I actually cant remember what happened lol. But yes, im alive. Its butt cold here. We're getting the weather from Siberia (its always -7 or lower) so luckily we were sharing the car w/ the other elders. But that doesnt matter anymore. Im getting whitewashed. Again. With a companion I already don't get along with. So, im not overly in the best of spirits. This will prolly be a tough cycle, but we´ll see. The dang sisters are getting our apartment. It stinks. None of this makes any sense. gah. Other than all this, I guess im doing okay. Im sending a package home, so you'll get some sweet german stuff. DONT BREAK ANY OF IT. Its snowing right now. I also didnt have any time to write yesterday, so thats why you're getting it today. Its also very hard to write on an american keyboard. I must type very slow. And yes, I did get the stickers and the article you sent me. I had a really big hat in that picture. Yeah, Im not sure what to write about, except that its cold lol. Apparantly theres also been an increase in neonazi terrorist activity, so thats always fun. The usual car bombing, house-burning, turk-killing stuff. Its pretty crazy. Okay, i gotta go finish packing and stuff, so ill let you know how transfers go...if i surive. Chao

Dec 5th - January 1, 2012

 

January 1, 2012

Transfers were good. I hated leaving Mannheim, but its gotta happen. My new comp is Elder Decker, who goes home in 4 weeks. Yeah, we´ve got some investigators, and one guy with a baptismal date. We´re getting along fine. The branch is good, but i haven't introduced myself yet cuz the branch president wanted to wait till fast Sunday. We have bikes, and it rains ALL THE TIME so its taking a little adjusting. Our apartment is a mansion. Its soooo nice, ill have to send pics. We´re also on the 8th floor of a building, so we have a nice view of the city, which was way cool for New Years. And who says I'm not happy? I'm doing fine. Talking to home had nothing to do with anything. I just never know what to say, and i was wicked tired. I was just upset about being transferred, but other than that I'm fine. And yes, I thought that joke was kinda funny lol. But yeah, nothing much to talk about.  

JOKE Alex is referring to:

Three friends die in a car accident and they go to an orientation in heaven. They are all asked, "When you are in your casket and friends and family are mourning you, what would you like to hear them say about you? The first guy says,"I would like to hear them say that I was a great doctor, and a great family man." The second guy says, "I would like to hear that I was a wonderful husband and school teacher which made a huge difference in our children of tomorrow." The last guy replies, "I would like to hear them say ... "Look, He's moving!"

OH, for i forget, heres my address:

Friedenstraße 55 a/WNr. 61

67657 Kaiserslautern

Germany

So, yeah, thats all I got. Talk to ya later tschüß

 

December 27, 2011

Hi. yeah, not much to say. No, im not overly happy. Nah, im not happy about going. I could have stayed here a while longer. Yeah, new comp goes home at the end of the cycle. Dont know whats going on w/ E. Keetch yet. Yeah, no clothes :) The sweaters wern't bad, but i dont wanna come back with american cloths lol And what game? You mean the ping pong? That was fine. If you mean games from blockbuster...

-SKYRIM (if they have it)

yeah, that's the only one that matters. If its not there don't worry about it. Ill just ask for it on my birthday :D

For Pday, I'm gunna be writing in tschüß books. That's about it. And finish packing. For the yo-yo:
http://www.yo-yo.com/index.php/site/categories/accessories

 

The string color doesn't really matter.

K, that's all I got for now. Have a fun New Years! Tschüß!

 

December 19, 2011

So, I figure Id just call you real quick on Sunday to figure out what time we should skype. E. Keetch is skyping home at 5:30 (here time) which is 11:30 your time, so Ill prolly get to you at 7:30 here time (1:30 you time). Bishop has free calls to the US, so maybe Ill call during church or somethng. But yeah, im excited. The Christmas songs are mostly the same here, a couple differences, like how its in german haha but it doesnt translate the same into English.  I just got the package from the Gardners yesterday,(nice surprise) but nothing from you guys yet. Its okay, i dont really want anything. haha Id love to drop Travis off at the MTC when he goes!! Thatd be sweet. Yeah, Giselle should just write me lol...just sayin. Eh, its okay.  Our chirstmas party was pretty good. But I dont wanna say too much, im talking to you guys in a week, so im not really gunna say much so TSCHÜß

December 12, 2011

 I think we've been sick just cuz the weather has been all over the place here. Lots of rain, no snow. I hate it. Yeah, we went to the temple with our ward on Saturday. But, for whatever reason, E. Keetch and I wernt aloud to get in the water. They (the temple people) said we´d swim away, which doesnt make any sense, cuz as missionaries, we baptize people. So we just did the confirmations and I got to be the tauf recorder. It was pretty cool. We then went out for chinese. I got squid. It wasnt fried kalimari like I thought itd be, it was legit squid. It was pretty good. But later that night, we were at a baptisim for a girl in our ward, and the squid destroyed me. I spent alot of time on the toilet lol. On Friday we went caroling with some members from the ward. It was also pretty cool. Not much else happened this week. I need a time that ýou´re gunna be able to skype. Bishop said we could do it at his house, so we just need a time. Its in 2 weeks. gah. Hey, do you want any cool German thing for christmas?  Ill give you a list of things to look up and you can decide from there:

-Raucherman

-Nutkracker

-Pyramid

-a house for your christmas village

 

That's about all I can think of ha ha. Rauchermans are prolly my favorite. But you can look them all up. Well, not much going on today. We´re just gunna chill with the other elders in Mannheim. K, have a great week! Tschüß!
 

 

December 5,2011

 

Hellose. Yeah, Christmas is coming up. The stickers you got for me were perfect...BUT...my yoyo string broke, like, the next day whilst I was playing with it. So, If I could get a new string thatd be greeat...lol: Other than that, I dont really want anything for christmas haha. Im gunna get a new suit, but other than that, I dont really want anything. Yeah, our ward is doing a christmas party on the 17th, so that should be fun. Thats cool that you got to be mitbelehrs with the elders. Yeah, some people have the lamest excuses. Its usually cuz they´re too afraid that they´re gunna actually get an answer, and then they´re gunna have to change their life, and most people dont want to. Its confusing. So...with my leg...I took a little tumble down a hill while I was chasing after E. Walker, who was chasing after a soccer ball. I landed wrong and sliced the whole left side of my body open. It hurt pretty bad, I havnt taken a spill like that in a long time. I got some pretty sweet scars, too. Is it bad when scars itch? But yeah, not much to say this week. We were sick most of the week, so we were inside most of the week. But this week we´re going caroling, and to the temple, and other stuff, so this week should go by pretty fast. Today we´re going to Heidelberg to see the Weinachtsmarkt, so that should be fun. Its rreally cold here, but no snow yet. Bummer. Well, Ima gunna go. I should have some info about christmas soon. K, talk to ya later! Tschüß!

November 21 2011

FAMILY LETTER


BANGARANG

Eh, not much going on this week. We have Zone Conference on Wednesday, and Thanksgiving dinner with the other missionaries on Thursday, so that´ll be sweet. Other than that, its pretty boring. The Weinachsmarkt in Mannheim opens on Wednesday. We went to the one in Speyer today, but it wasnt as cool as expected. We´re pumped to go to the one in Heidelberg, tho. Oh, I found out this week that I can't pray in english anymore. I tried, and I struggled way hard. Its so much easier in German now haha. Ive also heard that if you pray in your mission language after your mission, you´ll be able to keep it (the language, I mean). I find myself not being able to remember english words or phrases, and sometimes I use the German grammer when I make sentances. Its pretty cool haha. Austin Smith going to Italy for his mission? Thats sweet. I know he wanted to go there pretty bad. Im pumped for him, especially with the temple going up soon. So, Ive been thinking about how I only have 6 more cycles left, and Im dreading coming home. Im freaking out. Im sure I'll have nothing to worry about, but still, like, ive been doing the same thing for the past almost year and a half, and to be thrown back in the ocean is kinda scary. Eh, but I dont let it bother me too much. My biggest fear is that when I see Shalese, that im gunna puke lol. Dont ask me why, but thats just my fear haha. Um yeah, so other than that, thats about it. Wait, why were you at the Sedgwick? AND on the day she got my letter, none-the -less? Id send pictures, but I need to write letters first :) And im trying to do better with putting them online. But alas, it always evades me. Maybe on like my 18-month mark ill send pics home or sumtin. K, ima go now. Have a great week! Tschüß!

DADS LETTER

hey pa, week was pretty good, but kinda slow. You should stop getting sick lol  Here's something new I learned this week that I thought was pretty cool! Get this: So you know how some talk about how when we´re in the lower kingdoms of Heaven, we cant progress? And that damnation is eternal and stuff? Well.....Its not! It doesn't say that ANYWHERE in the scriptures! In fact, it says the complete Opposite! It says that we´ll still be able to progress, it'll just take a little longer than if we lived right while we were on the earth! Pretty nifty, right? Weather here is cold, thats about it. For Thanksgiving we´re going to the ward haus in Limburgerhof with the other elders to have a dinner. Should be sweet. Yeah, not much happened this week. Same old stuff. K, have a great week! Feel better! Tschüß!

November 14, 2011

So, Transfer results...IM....staying here, and so is Elder Keetch. WOO. Yeah, Sister Uchtdorf shook our hands. We were basically like, ´"Follow us if you want to get back to your husband" haha. It was hammer. Also not too much going on this week. Its gotten pretty cold, the Weinachsmarkt is being set up, Thanksgiving is in like 2 weeks, Ive been in Germany a year as of tomorrow, yeah. Not much going on, so this letters gunna be prety lame. On Sat. night, we did like a member Missionary Training Center which was pretty sweet. We (Mannheim and Speyer elders) bought all the food, called members, told people what was going on, and taught lessons kinda like in the MTC. Pres. Schwartz even came as a guest speaker, which was pretty cool for the members. There were more people than expected, but luckily we had enough food. We were freaking out the whole time thinking we wernt gunna have enough lol. We also had 2 eating appointments yesterday, and another one tonight and on Friday, so hopefully I start gainging weight. But i doubt it. Im special lol. But yeah, that's about it. K, hopefully something cewl happens this week. Oh, thanks for the package! Um, I noticed there were no yo-yo stickers in it, so im gunna send you the link again:

http://www.yo-yo.com/index.php/site/products/3152PK

This is implying that I REALLY need yo-yo stickers, so if that was in a christmas package or something that would be hammer. I cant think of anything else I would need for it, so thats it for now. K, ima go now. Have a great week! Tschüß!