Cassidy Nichole: Monday April 27, 2015 Stadthagen, Germany

Nichts und Alles (anything and everything)

Wow our yard! So cool! We have so much land. No one has a yard that big, or close to that big here! And Chalis’ babies! SO cute! Colten’s birthday! Fun fun! I miss that cake! All German cake has fruit in or on it. Thanks for all the emails and fun updates. Now for this crazy packed full week, but also, I feel like I’ve done nothing!

Montag: We have a lot of time because we don’t have to spend forever emailing! So... Elder Thomas wrote us a song (yes wrote) so me and sister Medley can play the piano and cello together. I’m obviously playing the cello! Just kidding. But I did try it and its fun! I just need a smaller one! We also went over to Schwester Dietrich's house. She’s a cute little old lady who told us every story I think she could remember. She has a very strong testimony and she loves to do genealogy work. She has a strong relationship to her cousins (they don’t have a word for all cousins put together! you have to say if it’s a boy cousin, or a girl cousin! it’s one of the annoying words in German) which is really cool to see because I want that really bad too!

Dienstag: In the morning after studies we went by a member Schwester Metzig! She broke her rib a week ago because she was riding her horse, it got spooked and fell over on top of her. Luckily, nothing else was broken! But, we brought her flowers and visited with her. She speaks English with us, just because she likes to. She is really nice and we had a good visit. While we were there we got a text that the Deutscher Bahns (German buses/trains) were going to be on strike on Wednesday and Thursday. The day that we were headed to Berlin! So we had to change our ticket along with almost everyone else in Stadthagen that was planning on going anywhere. Strikes are funny here because they tell everyone when they are going on strike, and then some of the trains still run. So we changed our ticket and then tried to do some finding in Bükeburg. No success! So we prayed and we felt like we needed to be in Stadthagen, so we came and one of the only people on the street was a mom with two kids. She didn’t speak much German, but she invited us over to her house this next week so we could tell her more about Jesus! Cool! I love little things that happen like that! We then went to The Familie Grafs house. The missionaries are over there every week, because they invite us! It’s very nice, and they want us to have a good relationship with their kids. (They are all teenagers) Bruder Graf wasn’t there, but he drove past and stopped his car and got out to talk to us. I asked him how we was and he started crying. He is going through a hard time and has some health problems with his heart that he is scared about. He told us thanks for coming over to his family every week because they really need the extra support. I love helping people. Being a missionary is worth it because of these small things! It meant so much to me, that he would tell us his struggles so we could know how to better help their family!

Mittwoch: Schwester Metzig invited us over to do service, because she has a broken rib and can’t do anything. So we went over...in jeans...on our BIKES!! It was too big for me (surprise!) and I swore that I will NEVER do that in a skirt! Way too dangerous for me trying to get on and off! Sister Medley got a pretty good laugh from me trying to get on and off. But the service was good. We did a lot of cleaning and weed pulling (it wasn’t a magic garden like ours!) We then had our gemi co and Gemeinde Rat. Also...it was my 6 month mark! And earth day. Good thing I helped the earth and pulled weeds! :)

Donnerstag: This was a day packed full of a lot of stuff! We picked up a driver’s license for Sister Sibley that served here before me, then we taught English, then we practiced our song that we are doing in sacrament meeting sometime, then we packed for our overnighter in Berlin! (AH!) And then we went on a pretty crowded train to Hannover, then to Berlin. It takes a long time! Like 3 hours with trains going 200 km/h! We got to Berlin and stayed with 8 other sisters in the sister training leader’s apartment! It was really fun! We made pizza and talked! The usual for girls.

Freitag: BERLIN!! We got the church at 8 along with 250 other missionaries. 2 members of the 70 were there! Elders Nielson and Kearon. We talked for a while about iPads and how we will use them in our work. We got some pamphlets with guidelines and safety things so we don’t get into things we shouldn’t. They said that our mission is one of the most obedient missions in the whole world! President Kosak does a good job at keeping us in line! :) One thing they said that stuck out to me is that getting iPads in Germany is revelation. We need to be able to communicate with these "well off" people and share the gospel in a way that they will respond well to. It thought that was cool! Also, this iPad vision is pretty cool! They will one day use them in the MTC and have language learning apps even before you enter the MTC! Cool! We didn’t get iPads today because they didn’t ship enough of them. But I’m glad because that would have been overwhelming. It was a great meeting. But...one of my favorite parts was that it got over early and so we had like 3 hours in Berlin! WHAT?! I got to talk to all the missionaries that I’ve served with and met some new people. It was cool! I’ll send you pictures! Elder Silver (remember him?) knew how to get to the Brandenburg Gate, so he kind of led a tour of a few missionaries over there before we had to get on a train. It was SO cool! I have pics of it too! Don’t worry! Then we headed home and it took forever. And we couldn’t sit next to each other because the train was full! Lame!

Samstag: We helped a less active family move along with the rest of the ward. It took a long time because nothing was packed, or cleaned. People...but it was fun and I got to wear jeans again, so I wasn’t complaining! :) We also did weekly planning! That dad...is where we make ALL of our phone calls for appointments, we plan the outline of our week, we plan what we are going to teach investigators, make goals, etc. In preach my gospel chapter 8 (orange section) is where you can find what we are supposed to do. It takes a long time but, its good because we are planned. We also made chicken roll ups!

Sontag: Church! I sat by the youth (they don’t sit with their families, kind of weird) because we had no investigators at church, and I want to get to know the youth better. Anyway, they are fun and all really good kids! Our ward is big and it’s SO hard for me to remember names, especially when we call each other Brother and Sister. But, it’s fun to get to know someone new every week. We then ate by the Hägel familie. Then we visited an investigator that is 95! She was a referral from a member, we are preparing her for the spirit world. She is cool! She is still going, doesn’t even have a walker! She talks a lot about the plan of salvation and asks a lot of questions. It was cool! I like hearing all the old people’s stories. She was a teenager during WWII! I can’t even imagine going through a life like she has!

So, we did a lot, but we also didn’t do very much! It really is the small and simple things that make being on a mission worth it! Praying, and getting answers. Building relationships with missionaries, members and investigators! I’m loving it and doing great! Love you so much! Also, Hauptmann Moroni is one of my favorite people in the BOM! He was so prepared and helped his people so much! Plus the war chapters in the BOM are way better in German! They sound cool! Kampf, Schwert, Hauptmann, Krieg. All sound better than fight, sword, captain, and war! Learning a different language is cool! It’s still not all here, but it’s coming! The Lord qualifies his servants!

Love, Sister St. John