Canada Day

Turns out there is nowhere in this city we can volunteer. Ah, socialism. I love you.  Everything is a government organization.

 

Tuesday was Canada Day! So we went to an international student meeting for a presentation on America. It sort of reminded me of all the things about America I don't really like or had forgotten about. For example, I didn't know anything about Portland, but it seems way sketch!

 

Zone Conference with the new mission president was a hit. I loved his vision for the mission and his emphasis on helping everyone to make covenents with God, not just a focus on baptism but also helping members to progress. President Stoddard is just a really nice man, too. He was in church on Sunday in Erfurt, because of the leadership role he plays here, and he interviewed a guy from the district for his mission! That was so cool. I like Arturo. He'll do great.

 

Friday was INDEPENDENCE DAY! (You know, like the movie.) We went to an american grill, which was delicious, but we're almost positive the waiter was drunk. At 11:30 in the morning! What!

 

Saturday we went with the Relief Society to the BIGGEST ROSE GARDEN IN EUROPE. oooooooo aaaaaaaaa. Sorry, don't have my camera cord. But someday you will see!!!

 

We also met with Anja, and her daughter Lorena was really quiet and cute! She sat next to me and played with stuffed animals the whole time. She also told me that the skin is the best part of the potato! Then she ate like 2 with the skin on (they were really small) and then her mom had to peel the rest. Well, someday.

 

I now only have 3 sundays left in Erfurt. Sad!

 

I love you. Forgive someone today, just because you can.

 

Sister Teusch

Whiplash!

June 30, 2014

This week we sent President and Sister Schwartz home to Nürnberg with big hugs and some tears. And then Elder Brown showed us how to break boards! Which was a huge amount of fun, but we practiced a lot and so my right side tensed up. I had to practice with the left side when I got home to balance everything out!

 

We're heart attacking all the members (there aren't that many), and it's been a fun adventure. Some of them live in houses in far away villages, so getting there is the hard part. Some of them live in town, but in apartment buildings! So there's a lot of sneaking involved. One less-active, we were standing outside her complex door waiting for someone to let us in and SHE showed up! And then got all flustered and said we should have made an appointment . . . we tried to explain we were trying to surprise her. Oh well. We did stick the hearts on the door on the way out! And she loved them. Of course. Everyone loves hearts stuck to their door.

 

We're back to visiting Frau Starke. I love her. She's so funny. We were walking with her in her wheelchair and we found like, 15 coins of either 1,2 or 5 cent value just lying on the sidewalk! We gave them all to her (It's your house!), and she made each of us take a 1 cent as a good luck charm.

 

This week we had THREE eating appointments. The first one we asked for vegetables when he asked what we wanted, so he made DDR schnitzel and a cucumber salad. Close enough. The 2nd one was to watch Germany vs. America in the world cup!! It wasn't a super good game. I cheered for Germany. We won. The best part was all the snacks they had! We were a little short on money this week. And then yesterday, we had our official eating appointment. Klöse! Gotta learn how to make those. And then Sister Stoker got to play his violin. He tells the best stories about being mormon in the DDR. (You know that DDR means East Germany, right? Sorry.)

 

This week we have another zone conference, this time to greet our new mission president. Because he has jurisdiction over our district (as in a baby stake), we sustained him in branch conference on Sunday. THAT was weird. I'm going to miss the Schwarzes!

 

Love you all. Pray hard!

Sister Teusch

Things that happened this week

Sister Stoker borrowed a member's violin. She's really good! 

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She wanted to take an angry picture. This is how we show our love! We won 1-0! Yeah! (Okay, sorry, but getting one goal in an hour and a half is just not a fun sport.)

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We got the elders all dolled up, too! 

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I BROKE THIS BOARD. It was so fun!!

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And there's Huiying, everyone's favorite chinese girl. She's a superstar.