Hello, everyone. So, these german keyboards are really weird. The y and z is switched, and a bunch of other stuff. My p-day is on Mondays. Its snowing like crazy right now. And its cold. Ive only seen the sun once since ive been here. But, yeah. So the flight over was good. There was like no one on the plane, so we got to spread ourselves out. The in-flight meals were not too shabby. So, we got to Frankfurt at like 11, and President and Sis. Ninow met us there with the APs, and our group got split up: one went on the Bahn (in-city train) to talk to people and kind of see the city a little, and the other went to the mission office to start geting processed. I was with the Bahn group. It was rather exciting. And, amazingly, Germany looks just like the Northeast. So, after riding the train and talking to people (which was pretty cool), we went and got processed. Then had dinner at the Presidants house, then went to a hotel for the night. When we got up, I had probably one of the greatest breakfeasts ever. And it was all you can eat, and free. So i ate alot. Then, we went to the stake center in Frankfurt and met our trainers and went to our areas. My compainon is Elder Stradling from New Mexico. He has only a couple weeks left, so he really knows the language and how to do stuff. We get along great. He talks most of the time, because I dont know what anyone is saying ,lol. We are in Weimar, which is in Eastern Germany, so its only been free from communisim for like 20 years, which kinda makes missionary work a little difficult because everyone is so reserved. But when you talk to people, they're pretty nice. Our branch is small- only 10 people were at church yesterday. But, back to the other day. It´s a 2 hour train ride from Frankfurt to Weimar. And we have the biggest missionary distrikt in the Frankfurt mission. Everyone is a trainer, and I know most everyone in our distrikt, which means when we go on splits, it'll be with someone i was with at the MTC. Elder Anderson went to Dusseldorf, so I'll see him at zone confrence, which is being held in Nürnburg in like a week (its the christmas capital of the world), and we´ll be there for 2 days. But yeah. Weimars a decent-sized city. Theres like 60,000 people. Its been cloudy for my entire stay here. The pastrys are amazing. Oh, and i eat waffles like everyday. and they're better than eggo. So, I have to trade my cash in for Euros today. I have 180 dollars, and its useless. Im just gunna start writing random stuff now. We had subway the other day. I had to order by myself. It went pretty well I think. The members are really nice. One of them actually speaks english really well, so that was a relief, because no one in East Germany speaks english, unless they want to swear. I ride the bus and train like everyday. its fun. The styles here are crazy. I'll fit in fine when I come back. EVERYONE HAS A GUITAR. it makes me sad. My bike seat is too high, so we have to fix it. Theres techno blasting everywere. Its awesome. It costs alot to use computers. We´re in a casino right now, because these are the closest available computers. Germany is almost completly reversed from america from morals. America is all about violence and shuns sex. Germany is all about sex and shuns violence. We have to be careful where we look, cuz theres porn almost everywhere. The Weinachtsmarkt (christmas market) is being set up. Its soo awesome. And it smells amazing. The croissants here are the best ever. Alcohol-free beer doesnt taste very good, BUT i found a brand that does, so its all good. Theres 2 alcohol indicators on bottles, and we check both of them, so dont worry. we´re still being good lol. Did you know I can't speak german? Or understand it? I didnt haha. I had to kinda give a little intro to me in sacrament, and everyone said I have a really good accent. So i just need to know more words. Or they were making me feel better. So, contrary to what people think, the Autobahn has speedlimits EVERYWHERE. BUT, there are some spots were it doesnt. We´re just supposed to not go past 120 km. But we dont have a car, so it doesnt matter. I think I might get mcdonalds today, but im not sure. The members give us coupons, so we should use them up. Our apartment is really nice. It has a washer AND dryer! a lot dont have that. Theres a concentration camp a little ways from us, so we´re gunna go visit that soon. Despite popular belief, Germans do NOT celebrate Thanksgiving, but we are gunna cook a duck or something at home, and have a turkey bowl with the other mics in our distrikt. Yeah, so heres our address so you can send me mail and other stuff:
Elder Alex R. Madore
Kirche Jesu Christi HLT
So, speaking of mail, send that to everyone or put it on my facebook. MAKE SURE PEOPLE GET IT. And I need you to send me 2 things: My ipod (which we can have, I did ask), and My denim jacket with the black hood (which we can also have). Send them together, and put the ipod in a pringles jar (people dont care for pringles). That should be all I need for now. But, yeah. Its awesome here. Im excited. And, we gotta go get more food and walk around and buy stuff. I think thats everything, so now you can send me stuff! Keep telling me about home and stuff haha. emails are good. so are letters. But, yeah, im gunna go now. Tchüß!
Carl-Von-Ossietzky Str. 30
99423 Weimar
GERMANY
