Hello Family!
Well, like my e-mail title says, there are ALWAYS
surprises in the mission. Sister Odenwalder and I just got the phone
call that we´re being moved to a little place called Elmshorn. Surprise!
It´s in northern Germany by Hamburg and in the Neumünster Zone. We have
to get packed and be ready to move by tomorrow. It´s crazy! This week
has been really really not very good. Every single investigator has
tschüssed us (said goodbye). We´re not moving because the work went
downhill- I´m sure the work went downhill because we are needed in
Elmshorn. There will be Elders that come to Meißen. It´s pretty sad, but
if we are needed in Elmshorn, we will go gladly!
Like I said, this week was totally crazy and the work just totally
died out. When I said last week that everything has fallen out, that
means the people didn´t show up to the appointments. Robert has been
really struggling. There was one day this week where he said to all his
friends "I have to drink right now and starting Saturday I can´t drink
ever again!" He didn´t realize that his baptism wasn´t going to happen.
We kept trying to have lessons with him, but every time he kept saying
"No desire" Then he asked us "what time is the baptism on Sunday?" Then I
had to break it to him, "Sorry dude. There is no baptism on Sunday." He
was shocked and looked pretty disappointed. Then we asked him when he
actually wants to get baptized so he can start working on it. He said he
would let us know when he wants to meet again. That was heartbreaking.
He is really one of my best friends and I care so much about him.
Then there is Stanley. We went to Sabine´s house to have an
appointment, and she wasn´t there. That was disappointing, and as we
were leaving we saw Stanley! He said "It´s been good having you come
over, but I know what I need to do, and you don´t need to come over
anymore"....okay.... So he doesn´t want to meet with us anymore either.
And our Frau Helaili expressed concern that she will never be able to
quit smoking and she really isn´t all the way there, so we aren´t going
to teach her anymore. We sent a text message to the 15 year old girl to
see if she could meet with us and she said that she was sick and that
she is going to France for a year. So that was also a bummer. Herr
Becker didn´t come either (the one from Weinböla that we were talking
about then we talked to him.) It was really kind of a disappointing
week. We went to Cottbus to do a Straßen Ausstellung (No, it´s not
really a market mom... I don´t know what to call it. A street display or
something) and when we got there it POURED rain on us and no one talked
to us or even was outside, so that was also pretty disappointing. We
had about 6 Sister Missionaries there this time. Last time we had four.
The picture on the blog wasn´t from our Ausstellung, so that´s why you
didn´t see a picture there.
BUT I´m not saying all of that to complain. I´m saying that to
testify that in the middle of really hard times, there are miracles when
we work through the hard times. We went to an appointment and we rang
the doorbell, but it ends up that we rang the wrong door bell, but they
invited us in. It was a family from Macedonia with a 12 and 1 year old
daughter. They said they just barely started reading the Bible two years
ago (and in his exact words) "they are looking for the right path." We
even had a Book of Mormon with us in Serbian, which is one of the
languages they speak there. We also found out that their doorbell had
been broken for awhile and they just barely fixed it that morning. They
were so interested in the Book of Mormon and it was cool to see that
Heavenly Father obviously lead us to them. We made a return appointment
and hope the next missionaries can teach them more.
Health-wise, I´ve been feeling pretty well this week. I just had
some stomach pain. It doesn´t happen too often that I get sick, but it
happens more often than I like. Anna didn´t get to participate in the
Primary program. There have been too many things going on this week and
they weren´t able to come to church. The family that reminded
me of home is so great. The parents were a little embarrassed, but I
loved it because, like I said, it was exactly like home.
I am sad Sabine isn´t coming too. She is working in an old folk´s
home for her internship and she loves it, so that makes me happy. We
don´t see them as much anymore, like I said, we had an appointment, but
they weren´t home. I don´t even know if we´ll be able to say goodbye to
them.
What I´ve done about my missing glasses is I´ve been wearing my
companion´s glasses. Luckily we have a similar perscription. So it´s no
big deal, you don´t need to get me any, I can just borrow hers if I need
them.
The man calling in the middle of the
night isn´t creepy. He hasn´t called at all since I wrote you about
that, so no worries. We haven´t sicked the Elders on him, but if he
calls again, he´ll have to deal with the Elders. We told you about the
Swiss CD´s we found, we have a Swiss Elder in our District, so we´ll
give it to him as a going away present or something.
Thanks so much for getting school things taken care of. Looks like
you won´t have anyone to be the middle man anymore so we´ll just have to
e-mail Mondays. That´s okay, we don´t need to communicate more than
that. But I am totally okay with living in Continental. Can you ask
Alyssa to write me and tell me about it a little. I don´t have time to
write her a separate e-mail.
I´ll have to think about what you should say to your nail lady.
That´s too bad that people were awkward. It´s good that people were
meaning the best, but we really need to be careful about how we approach
them. I don´t know what you should say, but maybe explain why they say
we´re the only true church, and that we believe we´re the only church
with authority and that we can pray and ask if it´s true.... I know that
sounds really bold... I don´t know what else to say though and now i´m
under time pressure. We have an appointment at 6:30 and have to catch
the train in about 15 minutes, but I´ll still think on it. So glad your
foot is healing! You should stop breaking it so I don´t have to laugh
every time I picture you walking like the Scooby Doo Zombie.
How many kids do Mindy and Ty have now? Crazy.
SOOOO cool
about dad and the soccer game. Way to be such a good example, dad. You
are really one of the most Christ like people I know. I love you!
Hey, I was thinking about Andi and Paige this week. Crazy! I can´t believe Andi´s son is 4. Nuts! Say hi back, if you see them!!
I will try my best to send a postcard from the Gingerbread man. It´s
been a little crazy around here. If I don´t get it out this week, will I
still be able to send one next week? Let me know, but I´ll do my best
to send one this week.
I know this gospel is true! I know that God has a plan for all of us
and that we will be safe when we are obedient and keep the
commandments! I love you! I love Heavenly Father and my Brother Jesus
Christus.
I love YOUUUUUUUUU!!!! Bis nächste woche aus Elmshorn! Can´t wait to tell you about our new adventures!
Love, Sister Niebergall
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