Halo Family!! Wie gest es ihnen?!
(how are you?) Thank you SO SO SO much for you Dear Elder letters, and your emails!
I love Dear Elder letters they are my favorite!! Send more of those please!
:)
Well, it sure has been a roller
coaster! I honestly can't believe I've been here for a week! It seems like I've
been here for a month at least, but at the same time it feels like I got here
yesterday!
I get up at 6:30 every day, and
earlier if we have service! (cleaning the MTC because they don't want to pay
people to do it) Then we have to be at the classroom dressed and ready for
studying. We are with our district for like 10 hours! Our district is me, my
mitterbeiteren (companion) Sister Israelsen, (and yes, like the country
"Israel" then "sen") Elder Westbury, Elder Woodside, (we
call that companionship the westside companionship! haha!) Elder Looks, and
Elder Roode. We are all going to Berlin! Only 6 missionaries (only one of which
is a sister) from our zone of about 35 are going to Frankfurt!
I love our zone, and our district!
Our district has a little bit of a hard time focusing on studying when our
teachers aren't with us, which by the way, is WAY more than I thought it would
be! We are only with our teachers for three and a half hours between lunch and
dinner, and then from 6:30 to 9:30. It’s not like EFY where you are with an adult
24/7! Oh! My teachers are only 23 and 21! Brudder Janis (yah-nis in German) got
off of his mission only 4 months ago! He doesn't get my sarcasm yet because he
is so fresh off of a mission! It's quite funny actually!
Ok, so my daily schedule.... Get up
at 6:30 get ready till 7(which I have been doing pretty good at!), study in the
classroom until 8, breakfast until 8:30, work out until 9:30, 9:30-10;00 get
ready and back to the classroom for personal study, companion study, and
language study. 12:50 is lunch, 2:15 is class with either Brudder Liddle, or
Bruder Janis. I can understand Bro. Liddle better because he uses simple terms
and acts it all out for us! Bro. Janis is harder to understand because he is so
fresh off of his mission! Plus he went to the Alpine mission and they speak
very throaty there! Then at 5:45 is dinner. Then 6:30 is class again with
whatever teacher we didn't have earlier in the day. We usually teach our
investigator at 6:30. He's good, but it’s hard to teach in a language you know
NONE of!! Then we go to our room around 9:30 and we are supposed to be in bed
by 10:30 which is hard! And then repeat!
The food is gross...it reminds me of
school food. Obviously it’s the Lord’s school food, so it’s a little better,
but school food all the same. I eat a lot of cantaloupe! Like I've probably
eaten 4 whole cantaloupes since I’ve been here, and 7 heads of lettuce! So...
send me food!!! Anything would be much appreciated! And yes, we had a food
closet the first day because some of the older Deutschers gave us chips and
queso (nacho cheese dip!) and it was heavenly!
I loved all the food and things sent
to me in my package!! Tell the siblings that I loved everything that was in there!
So you sent the package on Saturday and the mail room closes at 2, so I got the
slip later than 2 to go get the package, so I had to wait until Monday to open
it! :( The best days to send me packages would be on Tuesday, or Thursday, or Friday!
Oh! I loved the smelly laundry pellets! Except they made the muffins taste like
laundry soap like really strongly... sooo.... could you maybe send me some more
of those muffins?! I really love those!! Also, we can't chew gum, so mints
would be great! Any kind, just not Grandpa Mark’s kind;) also maybe some
apples! Oh! And my grey lace up toms! Thanks:)
I've been able to exercise and it’s
been great! We exercise every day but P-day and Sunday! I do all kinds of stuff
and I’m really sore today from abs and push-ups! We ran to the lower field by
the temple one morning and watched the sun rise! That was cool! I also play a
lot of basketball, 2 on 2 or 4 on 4! Sometimes even against some of our Elders
which is fun because I get competitive and it gets me moving!
All the other girls in my room are
great! It’s Sister Seare, and Sister Garcia (who is my height!) They are
hilarious! We have a good time! We are all going to Berlin!
P-day we get up, study, eat
breakfast, do laundry, eat lunch (which we will be doing at the temple) going
to a session, then we have till 6 to do whatever! The laundry situation is
great! Tons of washers and dryers to do laundry in! The only problem is that the
dryers are on top, and I honestly can't reach the back of them, even if I jump,
so sister Israelsen has to get my clothes that I can't reach for me!
So a few things that I have really
enjoyed about the MTC is all of the pictures in the halls! They have TONS of
pictures just lining the halls! They are all of people on their missions from
all sorts of places and years! It’s SO cool! They also have the biggest map
I've ever seen! I’ll take a picture with it sometime!
Also, most of the time, Deutschers
will leave on Tuesday, and then new ones will come in. But this one was a
little different because they got delayed and so we got to meet them and hang
out with them until yesterday! It was seriously such a blessing because we had
NO clue what we were doing! We had a schedule, but we didn't know what to do
with our study time, etc. I made some great friends and it was sad to say
goodbye because 25 of them are going to Frankfurt, and the other 25 are going
to Berlin! My favorite is Sister Hill! She is so funny and active! I just love
her! Look for her and all the other people on the Berlin mission blog! I will
know everyone there coming from the Provo MTC!
So, weird, but I never see the sun
rise, or set. We go back into our room when it is already dark, and we are out
before it's already light. Plus, all the sidewalks are covered so we hardly see
the sky! It will be nice when it snows to have it covered, but for now it kind
of sucks! I'm always thirsty because I use my throat more to talk in German than
I do to talk in English! We have to leave our bags and stuff in class, so I
keep forgetting to take my pill before I eat! I've been getting better at it
though!
The language is pretty frustrating,
and I have a headache every day after class, and it’s hard to fall asleep
sometimes because my brain just keeps thinking to itself in German! I've always
done pretty well in school with learning, and this feels like my 1050 math
class without Dad’s help for a tutor! It’s just frustrating, and I get down on
myself about it. I just have to remember that we are all doing the same thing,
and that I’ve only been here for a week! I do know how to give a simple prayer,
and to testify auf Deutsch though! And my mitterbiteren and I have taught 3
lessons auf Deutsch so we know some!
Ok, funny moment! Elder Westbury and
Woodside came in from teaching their lesson and they were just dying laughing!
So Elder Westbury told the investigator that they would be teaching a lesson on
taufel (the devil) instead of taffen (baptism)! And the investigator asked
Elder Westbury three times if he knew what he said and Elder Westbury was like
"yeah! I do!" every time because he thought it meant baptism! Then
the investigator was like dying laughing and said “uh... the devil? We are
having a lesson on the devil?” And Elder Westbury just dyed with embarrassment!
hahaha!! So so so funny!!!
I got all the pictures and loved
them!! I loved all of your costumes! River, your messy bun looked great! And Hadlie,
that was a perfect missionary outfit! I’m a little disappointed that Dad didn't
wear his hat with the fish attached to it that he ACTUALLY wore in Hawaii!
haha! But you guys looked great!
I hope Hadlie and River are enjoying the T-Swift album! We can't listen to ANY
music here! Not any! But when we get out into the field we will be able
to!
So, I almost forgot! Sundays are the
best! We get to watch Music and the Spoken Word for Relief Society, and then
have a speaker! Sacrament was small, and all in German! But it will be even
smaller next week because the veteran Deutschers are gone! So 50 of them left!
They all sang during sacrament meeting and it felt like another farewell! I
cried! They are such good examples! I don't know what it is about me and the
people I'm always with, but we look SO much younger than the group that just
left! All of the Elders that just left look way older than our Elders! It’s
crazy!
So after sacrament we went on a
temple walk with all the Deutschers! WE GOT TO LEAVE!!! It was amazing!! We
took a lot of pictures! and... all of the people not from Utah are obsessed
with the mountains! They are beautiful, but it’s funny to hear people talk
about how huge they are! Even the West mountains! It’s kinda funny! People
don't believe that I live on a mountain until I show them pictures of the view
from our house!
After the temple walk we ate dinner
and went to choir which was amazing! I love singing especially because we can't
listen to music! We then had a speaker who at the moment I have forgotten his
name! But it was good and exactly what I needed to hear! We also have choir on
Tuesday nights and we have a devotional, and we sang Lead Kindly Light as a
choir and it was so powerful! The speaker for Tuesday was the Primary General President
and she was so good! And again, exactly what I needed to hear!
I can't think of anything more to
say... I'm sure you guys will have questions! Ask me them! I liked the list
actually! :) I love and miss you guys so much! Sounds like things are
going well and I love getting your updates! I keep thinking that I get to come
home for a weekend or something... but then I realize that I won’t! This is
hard, but it’s SO good!
Remember to reflect the Lord’s
light, don't use your own dimmer light! The work is not about us! I don't do
anything for myself! Everything I do reflects around unser ziel (our purpose)
as missionaries which is to bring others closer to Christ! NOTHING I do here is
about me! It’s about the people in Germany, and spreading the Gospel to them! I
thought I knew a lot about the Gospel, but I learn something new every day
about the Gospel! Honestly it’s amazing and I’ve never felt the Spirit so
strongly! Even though I miss home, and the food, and my family and friends, I’m
truly loving it here! This is where I’m supposed to be! I don't know why the Lord
decided that I could learn German, but He has faith in me, and I have faith in
him! I love you so much! I will send pictures in a separate email!
Love – Sister St. John
Us on our temple walk! The Elders are funny! LOOK how SHORT I am!! hahahaha!!
Our district!!! Left to right, Elder Woodside (hes 6'7! haha!) Elder Westbury, me, Sister Israelsen, Elder Looks, and Elder Roode at the bottom.
