Mon, Jan 02, 2012 - Rostock Week 1!

Hello Family!!

 

Things in Rostock are slow right now because of the time of the year. We´re hoping things will pick up this week when people don´t have as many excuses not to meet with us. We spent a majority of the time finding with not much success and didn´t really do much else. I still miss Celle a ton, I´m sure I´ll like Rostock once things get moving a little bit. It actually hasn´t been unbearably cold yet. Only one morning I thought "Oh, now it feels like winter" Because it´s been pretty warm. If I could put a date on the weather I´d say October 14th. It´s been really nice to not freeze our tushies off.

 

When I dreamed in German I did understand! It was obviously simple German, but it was conversations and I understood what was being said. I can´t remember what was being said anymore, but I understood so I´m way happy!

 

I´m glad you enjoyed the package! I had fun buying everything. Maybe too much fun. I love that chocolate covered fruit. Its so delicious! What was your favorite? Were you all there together when you opened the package? That´s pretty hilarious about mom eating the mango one. I liked the mango one. It is so delicious! And the Strawberry. I don´t particularly like those apricot cookies, but the Germans love them so I figured I´d send them on over. I wish I could´ve been there to explain my pictures to you. I´m sure no one will be interested to listen to me go on and on forever about pictures they´ve already seen when I get home, but you´ll have to endure it :) Anyway, I´m glad you liked it! That makes me happy.

 

The trip to Rostock was pretty uneventful. There were some nice people that helped me with my bags when I needed it. It was good. Not really much more about to say about that except the train ride was 5 hours with transferrs included. So far I haven´t really met our investigators. They´re all on vacation. But it seems like about half are German and half are internationals (auslanders as we call it in Germany. If I ever say auslander, you´ll know what I´m talking about.) I´m not sure if people work on the sea or what they do here. Hopefully I´ll learn more about it this week. The ward was so welcoming to me and it was really nice. I´m sure I´ll like it here. We do our e-mails in a casino actually so not only do we pay money, we leave this place smelling like smoke. I hope that I can still write good e-mails. Its 4 Euros for 2 hours of e-mailing.

 

I hope to keep being a Jesus Champion! That´s my goal here in Rostock.

 

I love that Sacrament meeting when everyone chooses their favorite hymns. Its so great! I would´ve chosen "Our Savior´s Love" I just love the text to that hymn. That sounds like a good Relief Society meeting you had, mom. I did some re-evaluating on what I need to do to be a better missionary and set some goals so I´m excited to improve! I love the story of the snowball lady. I´m sure Sister Laubaugh will contact her again. I just hope that this shop isn´t only operating for the holidays and then she´s lost. But I´m sure they´ll find her.

 

I´m glad that choir went okay. What´re you going to be singing? I hope that people will start coming to practice. When I was at USU we had to bribe people to stay for choir. Maybe that could work with you :)

 

Oh Sarah and chick flicks. That´s hilarious. Silly dad ruining moments of passion (refer to Lake Powell trip with Britt. She can explain that to you if you don´t remember what I´m talking about) 

 

Also random question, could you possibly send me a snail mail letter with a color personality test and one with love language test? My companion has never heard of them before and is curious of her color and love language. Danke! I would ask you to e-mail one but we can´t print for free here in the casino and we aren´t allowed to get on non approved websites.

 

So every Saturday we have Tisch (table) Tennis with a new convert and he is intense. He put me through Tisch Tennis bootcamp because my serve wasn´t good enough. He made me serve and re-serve and re-serve. Everyone was laughing. It was slightly embarrassing, but apperently everyone has to go through that bootcamp when they are new to Rostock. So I don´t feel as bad.

 

We spent New Year´s Eve at our Senior Sister Missionary´s house. We cooked things on a Rocklette grill like sausages, cheese, potatoes, peppers, onions, carrots, and so one. It was really yummy. Then we went home at 9 o´clock and to bed at 10:30. The fireworks here are CRAZY. They´ve been lighting off huge fireworks for several days now at all hours of the day. We´ve woken up to them at 4 o´clock AM, not even on New Years day. It was intense. They also really especially like to walk past us and drop a firework behind us and scare us. I feel like we missionaries are Hogwarts students and all the Germans are Peeves the Poltergeist. Don´t worry though. We were a safe distance away. We didn´t get exploded or anything. Just scared. :)

 

Oh, dad, about needing to go on a diet, I think that´s why Christmas is right before the New Years. So you can eat all you want and then set goals to get rid of it all.

 

I can´t believe Jeff leaves in a few weeks. He will love it. He´ll have so many adventures! I can´t wait to hear about them. Those were really good pictures of Jeff. Who took them? They were fun.

 

I´m so glad to be in Germany right now. There were a couple girls at church yesterday who served in Rostock about 3 years ago and they told us to soak in every moment of this because it´ll be gone so soon. I can already see that because this week I´ll have been out 6 months. It´s so crazy! I hope that I can give it my all and give the people the truth that they´re searching for. I hope that I can do everything in my power to help these people in Germany.

 

I love you all so much!!

 

Love, Sister Niebergall

Mon, Dec 26, 2011 - Rostock here I come!

Hello family!!

As you all know, I´m going to be transferred to Rostock. I was really surprised at how sad all the members seemed when I told them. I´ll miss Celle so much, it really feels like home for me. But I know there are more people in Rostock that need the gospel too. Maybe more Niebergalls? We´ll see.

This week has been crazy busy back and forth between Halberstadt and Celle. I feel like Celle´s been a little neglected, but that´s probably because that´s where my heart is and that´s probably how Sister Laubaugh feels about Halberstadt too.

There isn´t a whole lot to say since I talked to you yesterday, except what we did on Christmas Eve and Christmas. I didn´t tell you the details yesterday because I wanted to talk to you about other things and also because I knew I wouldn´t really have anything to talk about in my e-mail if I told you.

So Saturday we had dinner with a family with 3 kids. The parents are a little bit awkward, but the kids were so much fun. First we ate a salad with cheese that tasted a little bit like mold to me, but it wasn´t too bad. Then we went to the greenhouse outside which they converted to a guest house where the kids opened their presents. I was surprised to see about 4 presents for each kid and they were perfectly happy. Boy are we spoiled on Christmas! If we got 4 presents we´d say „That´s it???“ Sad but true, huh!

Then the kids played with the toys and we chased them around and hit them with pillows and they hit us back with pillows and we teased them and it was fun. We ate a billion cookies during this time (also fruits that looked like a baby aliens. They were delicious, but weird. It´s call Lychee.) So we were all cookie and Lychee´d up and then the father announced it was time for dinner. Sister Stewert, Laubaugh, and I were afraid because we were really full.

Dinner was so delicous. I wish I would´ve been hungry so I could´ve enjoyed it more. But the father is a chef so he went all out. It was crazy. We had deer, Spetzle (a noodley thingy), chestnuts, broccoli with a nut butter sauce poured on it, and a pear with this raspberry jam type thing on it. We were SO full. We had thoroughly enjoyed the pear dessert and then we were complementing how good the food was and how full we were and then the macho chef said “We haven´t even had dinner yet.” We about died hearing that. We thought the pear was the dessert! Luckily dessert wasn´t anything too rich, just a big bowel of ice cream with raspberrry sauce on it. It was delicious, but I felt like I´d never eat again after it.

Then we had church yesterday and PHILIPP came. You already know that, but we were so happy. He came in a suit even. I didn´t recognize him because he´s normally dressed as a gangsta wearing a hoodie with a beanie on, and his hoodie hood over his beanie. It was awesome. Kenneth was there too and he comes more often than not now so we´re really happy about that. We could probably move his baptismal date up (its in February now), but he needs a testimony of Joseph Smith. He´s so cool. I´m going to miss all of these investigators so much.

Then I went to an eating appointment and helped make some food and we ate. It was delicious! We ate beans, potatoe dumpling type thingy (but a billion times better), ham, veggies, salad, and a way delicious sauce. I really want some more now. German food is pretty good. I´m glad I dodged the rotkohl these 2 Christmas days. We were supposed to have an eating appointment today too, but I have to pack my bags and things so we had to cancel and I feel bad because the lady was so so so disappointed. She told us she already has our gifts for us all wrapped and everything. So we told her we´d stop by but couldn´t stay too long. I feel bad disappointing people.

Then opened my presents! It was a lot of fun. Thanks for the make up, pudding, ranch, cd´s, gum, candy, muddy buddies, thermal garments (I´m excited for those. I forgot to mention those last night. I´m wearing them right now and they´re so warm), hot chocolate, hair accessories, ear rings, and sorry if there´s anything else I´ve forgotten to mention. I loved it all and it was so great to think of you all thinking about me as you got the presents. I especially loved the wrapping paper with the turtle on it (I saved it), and the wrapping paper with “Merry Christmas” on it in a lot of languages. It made me smile from ear to ear. Then I got to talk to you all! That was definitely the best part of my day. Except one thing that´s been bothering me, but it shouldn´t- I feel SO bad for not bearing my testimony auf Deutsch. I really could have and now I can´t do anything about it and I feel really guilty. I don´t know why. So let me know that it was okay that I didn´t do that. I feel so bad! Ah! Anyway- I´ll hear you again in May (as they´d say in German). On the phone they don´t say Auf wiedersehen, they say Auf wiederhören which means “until I hear you again.” Maybe it´d be possible for Jeff and I to talk to each other on Mother´s Day. We´ll have to see when it comes closer.

 

Then I called Davood up because I know I won´t be able to see him before he leaves and I told him Merry Christmas and goodbye. He is so sweet. He kept saying “Danke für alles and God bless you.” Then my favorite thing he said to me was “Immer sei eine Jesus champion” which means “Always be a Jesus champion.” It made me really happy and smile really big. I want to be a Jesus champion now! Also its funny because champion is not a German word. He just tossed it in there. I will miss all of the amazing people in Celle so much. It was the perfect place for me to be, but now I know Rostock will be the perfect place for me now. I can´t wait to share the gospel there and I´m so blessed that I could share it here. I hope I can influence people to think more about God if nothing else, to maybe plant a thought in their head that God might be there and then maybe years down the road they´ll be ready to accept the gospel. I´m so grateful for the chance I have to share this daily. I hope I´m using my time the best I can. I love you all! I hope you all had a great Christmas!

 

Sister Niebergall

Mon, Dec 19, 2011- I love my Germany!!!

Dear Family. I have really excellent news.

I DREAMED IN GERMAN LAST NIGHT!!!!!! I am really really excited about that. That was the first thing that I said when I woke up today. I screamed it in excitement. German is coming along alright. I can communicate what I want to say mostly. With some awkward pauses because either I don´t know a word or have to think really hard about the word. But I feel like its coming pretty good. I don´t feel as awkward speaking and I´m not afraid to make mistakes (which is something that has kept my mouth closed for awhile now. But I´ve gotten over it, make mistakes, and speak German. I´m really happy!

It has been quite a bit wet this week. One night it was sleeting and it felt like ice needles were going into my face, but for some weird reason I had a smile on my face the whole walk. In Halberstadt we do more walking that biking. That´s been weird, but its been good. You asked how we got our Carribean family to church. We had to beg 2 members to pick them up. Their family is so big they need 2 cars. I want to live somewhere one day where I can willingly help the missionaries, because we really need so much help. Sometimes its hard for the members to see that. They´re a family we´re teaching and they have so much faith, they´re incredible. But they´re moving to the UK soon so it´s a big bummer that we won´t be able to baptize them. But we´ll pass on their info for sure.

Being in a drit is a lot of fun, but a lot of work. This week we´ve spent the majority of the time in Halberstadt. Halberstadt has a car so we use it to go back and forth to Celle. Except we are only allowed a certain number of miles per month and we´re almost out so we´ll have to take a train there and back this week. It´s hard to set appointments because we only have a few days each week in each city so we´re like "Can we meet you after the new year?" People aren´t anymore different than normal it seems like when it comes to missionary work. It´s also kind of hard to share the time in Halberstadt because I know there´s so much to do in Celle, I don´t want to leave it all alone with no missionaries, especially when I most likely will be transferred from Celle. We find out about transferrs on Friday, so I´ll tell you about it when I talk to you on the phone on Sunday. WEIRD I GET TO TALK TO YOU! But so exciting! You can call at 10 o´clock am your time. That will be 6 o´clock pm my time. 

So, don´t worry about Sister Laubaugh and I. We are working so hard I´ve never been so tired. Sister Laubaugh is a little appalled that I told you she´s inappropriate. Just disregard that. Let´s just say she and Heather Fellows you and I would have way too much fun together. We´re behaving ourselves though. She really is a good missionary, I´ve never seen a missionary so obedient. It´s really nice because I want to be obedient so we help each other out with that.

We are getting all kinds of treats from members. Mostly chocolate, but we´ve gotten some decorations, music boxes, apple sauce and lots of random things. Nothing really pastry-like. DOCH! We have this big nasty thing of butter, flour, sugar, and raisens and powdered sugar. None of us have dared try it. It looks really fattening and slightly disgusting. But that´s all that I´ve noticed. Mostly bunches and bunches of candy and chocolate. Oh, you asked if I say German word on accident or purpose. I think them in my head and type them without realizing it and then I realize it and don´t feel like erasing it. Doch means "yeah huh!" Kind of thing. Schmerz means pain. Davood is doing good. He´s so amazing. I called him yesterday to see how he´s doing and he said he still has a lot of pain "But I know Jesus helps me and one day I won´t have pain of problems anymore." He´s so faithful. I´ve learned tons from him.

This week has been good! Like I said, the majority of it was spent in Halberstadt. Sister Laubaugh told me a few months ago that there was a Niebergall on a klingel so we went by on it and I MET A REAL GERMAN NIEBERGALL. It was pretty sweet. His roommate opened the door and I asked him if he was Herr Niebergall and he said no, but went and got him. This guy is Tobias Niebergall! I was expecting someone old, but it was about a 29 year old I´d say. I asked him if he by chance knew about his ancestry and he said he had no idea. Bummer. He did say that his mother´s side of the family was related to Casper. Crazy huh! But, I got a picture with him. I´ll have to send it to you. He put his arm around me so I look really awkward and uncomfortable and my face shows it. It´s rather funny. But he´s my great great great something great cousin so it was slightly more acceptable, right? Haha. As I was leaving I asked if he maybe had interest to speak about Jesus Christ. He said no thanks and that he´s Evangelisch. He asked if we were the Mormons. I told him yeah. So he knows what the Mormons are. That isn´t very common in Germany. So I said „Can we just give you a card then?“ and he willingly took it. He was a nice guy. Maybe one day he´ll join. That´d be sweet.

The Woods are going to be in Mo-Tab?????????? CRAZY!! That´s exciting. I´ll have to look for them. Fun! Also, about the ward choir director, mom. You will be amazing!! Seriously! Don´t doubt your abilities! The Lord called you to this position. He could´ve called anyone else and knew you´d be great at it. I envy you. I´d love to be ward choir director and choose the music we sing. defordmusic.com has amazingly beautiful songs and you should look there for songs to use if you´re stumped what to sing. The ward will love you for this. You´ll be great, I´m excited for you.

I got your package, by the way. I had my companions open it and make sure everything was wrapped. For some reason I thought they wouldn´t be wrapped and if they weren´t I wanted Sister Stewart and Laubaugh to wrap them for me. But I was so excited to see all of them wrapped and have my name hidden into the wrapping paper like normal. :) Also the turtle pillow pet poem taped onto one of them. That made me smile really big. I´m trying to stay away from them because I really want to figure out what is in them. So I´m avoiding our Christmas tree. It´s a lot of fun.

The other day we went and sang songs at an old folk´s home some Christmas songs. It reminded me of why I want to do music therapy. It made me really really happy. There was one sweet lady who said after every song we sang „Do we have 3 extra beds here? We´re not letting you leave.“ And she was serious. She really didn´t want to let us leave. It was cute. I really enjoyed it. I always get so excited to use music with the Germans.

I finally had to missionary down something. Yesterday we had a dinner and it was TONS of food. She brought out soup, meat, apfel rotkhol, potatoes, clementines, two different salads, and a dessert. There was one salad that was really gross, it was a greek salad and I had to gag it down. It was funny. This lady was an 84 year old and made everything from a can. She dished us up too and put tons on our plates. She was back and forth from the kitchen a million times so when she´d leave we´d put some of our helpings back into the pots. We couldn´t eat that much. It was a fun experience.

How´s your season of miracles going? Are you all doing the things I assigned you? I hope so!

We had this really cool experience. We were in Wernigerode, which is a really touristy place of Halberstadt. I´m sure Sister Stewart and I kind of looked like tourists too because we were looking through windows in amazement. There was one particular window that had these treats called “Snowballs“ and they looked like left over cookie dough that was baked and packed into a ball and dipped in caramel and powdered sugar on top. We were looking at these Snowballs in wonder and the shop owner beckoned us to come in and buy one. So we came in to escape the cold and to look at these snowball things. We spoke a little in English to each other and she asked what language we were speaking. We told her English. She asked if we were in Germany because we were students. We told her we were here because we speak to people about Jesus Christ. She thought that was awesome and said „Das ist schön!“ We invited her to come to church and gave her a pass along card. She asked if she could keep the pass along card because she really wanted to try to come to church sometime. We told her, „Why yes, yes you can keep that pass along card!“ She told us she was on the fence about believing in God and Jesus Christ. Then Sister Laubaugh said that we have a book that testifies of Jesus Christ. All of us bore testimony of how its helped us in our lives. She took the Book of Mormon and held it against her heart like it was a precious treasure and said, „Das werde ich lesen!“ which means „That, I will read.“ It was so awesome to see someone treat the Book of Mormon with such respect. Lots of people just chuck it in a bag and the pages get all bent and it makes me cringe, but this lady held it so carefully. I wish you could´ve witnessed it. It was great. She´ll get baptized. I just know it.

I love this gospel. I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God. I´m so grateful to be telling people about how to have hope in their lives and what truly brings happiness. We are so blessed to have this. Really. I´m sure if people understood what we were offering them, they would treat it just as precious as this lady treated the Book of Mormon. It is a precious book. I love it. I learn something new from it literally every time I read from it. I hope we are all feasting from it as often as possible. I love this gospel. I can´t express it enough. I love you all so much! I´ll talk to you in a couple days!!!! Love you so so so so so much!!!

Love, Sister Niebergall