Cozy, but not quite Comfy

Guten Morgen alle!

Apologies for the gap in correspondence, I was unable to send an email due to my travels, and what laborious travels they were. But, even if I didn't get any sleep for 30+ hours (we lost count) and it was the most boring/dreadful flights of my life, at the end, I found myself in Germany. Which is a fairly decent compensation.

Last Week in MTC:

Our last week in the mtc was so much fun, we attended our last classes with our amazing teachers, enjoyed the last food we didn't have to prepare for a while (we get no member meals here) and we got to hang out with all our friends a ton. The highlights included, a Duck Donuts party during miracle time, pizza after the temple (ifykyk), and going to the field on our last day for spike and volleyball. Though we enjoyed these times, everyone, except me, seemed extremely excited to get to the field.

Reality:

There has not been before, or since, a harder day on this mission than saying goodbye to all of my friends within a 30+ hour span. First it was our dear Greek speaking friends (who are still stuck at the mtc), then after the first flight, we dropped off all the Berlin missionaries, and finally, on Thursday, I finally split up from the rest of our district. Which of course included my old MTC companions. Wednesday night was a particularly low point as we slept in some random hotel knowing that on the morrow our entire reality would change. But life goes on, as it always does.

New Beginnings:

On Thursday, I left the trainer meeting with my trainer, Elder Morley. He is a fairly chill guy who has been out for 10 months already. He is from San Diego, and completed a year at BYU before his mission. He is also the district leader, so that has been fun. Anyway, the day we got here was German fathers day, which meant of course that as we were picking all of our luggage up from the luggage van, we saw a drunk dude dressed as Fred Flintstone bumping techno. Obviously. We then proceeded to teach three lessons that day. Everyone always tells the story of their first day and how they immediately had to teach a lesson, and understood 0 of the language. Well, I understood about 70% of the lesson, so that was a good start I suppose. Thereafter, we finally returned, with all my bags, to our apartment in Hamburg (We had no time to drop my bags off beforehand). Oh, guess I just spoiled the big reveal, Hamburg is my first area. Yes the entirety of the actual city. But that is not all, there are 12 missionaries in Hamburg, and we all try to invite people to come to 1 ward. There is two sets of German Elders (us and Elder Pferdin and Bain, Bain is also brand new) and the German elders live in a four man apartment. There is also two German Sisters, two sets of Persian Elders, and a Spanish Elder with a German companion. Having this many missionaries has honestly been a blessing. It recreates the mtc vibe just a bit, in that there is always more people than just my companion to talk to. It does come with the downside that the ward hates us, and is actively against missionary work.

Routines:

I guess I have adjusted a little bit to missionary life here in the field. Every day we get up do a bunch of study, maybe have some lessons in the afternoon, and go "finding" in between. Therein lies the biggest problem so far. Elder Morley does not like talking to people. This makes it quite hard when I am brand new, and sure I don't speak enough German to start a conversation. Even so, we have tried and made a couple new Friends in doing so.

Our Friends:

Ali, this dude is getting baptized this week, I have never met him once yet though so all I can do is pray. Jenny, she is Deutcher, which is cool, and she referred herself, after her first lesson she asked how soon she could be baptized. However, she is very anxious and in my first lesson with her had totally changed tune, saying she didn't know why she needed to be baptized again, and that she didn't feel clean in our church. So, we met with her again later that day in a park (per her request) and talked more about her concerns. She now seems better and apologized for being rude to us (really no big deal). Hussein, this dude we have visited twice, but he doesn't seem to know what the purpose of missionaries are, he kind of just treats it like social hour, which I'm glad that talking to us makes him feel better, I really am, but after we spend two hours at his house and only teach 3 points, he might have to lock in. Also, just a bit about Hussein's story, he is a Christian from Syria, and when in Syria he was kidnapped and nearly executed by terrorists. He said that that was when he knew Jesus was in his life, when he was able to escape them for a better life. That is everybody who is actually progressing.

Miracles:

This whole email so far has been fairly random account of some of what has happened in the last week, so I thought maybe I would list a couple miracles I have noticed.

1. We went from 0 to 6 friends at church within 20 minutes this week. Most notably, this dude referred himself an hour and ten minutes before church, and showed up that day, and he brought a friend.

2. Prayer, the first night in the apartment, I did not sleep a wink. This was due to these feelings of anxiety and an out of control heart rate. So, I decided that since I was now a missionary in the field, I would practice what I preach. I offered a prayer, and though I did not get any sleep after the prayer, I had quite the perspective shift. My anxiety floated away, and I was even excited for some aspects of the work I had previously dreaded.

3. The scriptures. After our arrival, the APs drove us to the mission home. They are total lunch and p-day elders, but that is besides the point. We asked if they ever did anything fun, and they said "No, reading the scriptures is your new fun". I hate to admit, he was right. It is the highlight of my day to do personal study. I am able to sit calmly and learn from the scriptures. I have been trusting heavily in the prophetic promises that have been offered to those who read the Book of Mormon. For who more than a missionary needs added hope, joy, and peace in their life in addition to making better decisions.

That's It:

Missionary work in Hamburg is strange and it is hard. No Germans want to talk to us, so we either spend our day getting rejected or talking immigrants.

But, I have had mostly a good experience here and that is what I want to leave with you week. Though the darkness may circle you round about the light will never again be extinguished. Admidst our trails and uncertainties keeping a positive attitude can work miracles that you would never expect. Finally, however tired you are, you can always take one more step.

Attached are some photos, not many of Germany since I have been in such a whirlwind this first week.

-M.J.