Look at that, Schwerin- May 26, 2026
Surprisingly, the German isn't progressing terribly for teaching half of our lessons in English.
Greetings all, this week was rather wonderful in our own little slice of Ghana. Since I have more time this week, I will revert back to a similar formula to that of my MTC emails. Although, rather than something from every day, I will share a couple of stories from the week in general. Then, am ende, I'll leave a little summary of my thoughts and experiences so far, and if all are in agreeance, I believe we can begin...
Schwerin: For an absolutely beautiful start to the week, last P-Day we took a two hour train ride out of our area to visit the lovely town of Schwerin. If you've never heard of it, fear not, I never had either, but it is an absolutely adorable city about halfway between Hamburg and Rostock. The crowning feature of this little dorf is its absolutely picturesque castle situated right beside its cobalt lake. It was quite schoen as locals would say. From the minute we arrived in Schwerin I was taken aback. It is very different from Hamburg, in that Schwerin looks like the European town of your dreams. Winding cobble stone streets, a towering cathedral, colorful buildings packed together, and of course the old castle on the lake. It did not take long before we were happily taking pictures of anything we could find. I recorded one video near the lake that has become quite famous in the Hamburg area, after which this email is named. We then explored the grounds around the castle, and even threw a football under it's towering spires. It was definitely what I needed after a stressful first week, and although we may have gotten home 30 minutes late, so ist das Leben.
Interviews and ETs: This week, I had my interview with President for this transfer. Having only been on my mission for a week and a half, I did not have much to discuss. But, I told him that I was feeling much more locked in and joyous, and er freut sich viel darauf. Apparently though I fumbled egregiously. I say this because, we have been hatching a plan to get Pres to make me a flip trainer, because in two transfers six German districts are coming from the MTC, and Pres is gonna need trainers. So, while Elder Morley told Pres I would be ready, I sold so badly by doing my interview in English, only to later find out another new arrival, Elder Bain, did his entirely in German. Oh well, Pres knows I am down for whatevs.
Oh and the ETs. So, it was during Elder Morley's interview that he learned that three of the golden sisters (our term for greenie) want to go home already. Now I am certainly not one to judge, and am neither here nor there about what a missionary thinks is best for them. However, things got personal we found at that the sisters in our district would be shipped out to fill the vacant holes. Pres figured such a move would be ok, because there are so many Elders in Hamburg, but some friends just need sisters, and our district would be so completely buns without Rex and Zamaripa. So, this whole week, the dread of an ET was hanging over our heads. We had what we thought was our first and last district pizza dinner, and Sunday in Hamburg. That brings us to this morning. During weekly planning, the sisters got a call from the big Franz saying they were out for sure, and that we would be assuming their areabook (they have three friends going on date by the way). So there it was, all hope was lost. But then what followed was the greatest comeback since 2016. Pres texted them again and said other sisters were being shipped out and that ours were staying! What a blessing, we sent the video of Pat Beverly acting a fool to the group chat. In fact not a dark day after all. Oh and ET means emergency transfer btw.
Aside: Elder Morley and Elder Pferdin are currently having a P-day Eve tickle fight in our apartment. Thought you oughta know.
Jenny: Ok so we have this friend named Jenny, and she is German. She is struggling with a lot currently. So of course, we have tried to help her by meeting with her, suggesting what she should read in BoM, and praying for her. But, this week she showed a particular interest in Elder Morley. It was after her lesson with Bain and Morley (we were on exchange) that she sent us a message saying (in German of course) that Elder Morley was her type. She then asked us both (as we are on the same whatsapp account) if she was his type too. We immediately called the Sisters and had a hood council about what to do. Eventually, we responded, saying we are Missionaries, we cannot engage in such talk or activities, our purpose is only to help people come nearer to Jesus Christ. But, she doubled down. The next text asked if in a hypothetical situation she would be his type. So we doubled down too. We repeated the first message, and she said she understood. So, then we were in a dilemma. Should we pass her off to sisters? No because they weren't even going to be in our area anymore (we thought). So, we invited her to church, and she couldn't make it. This was because she didn't feel worthy of entering, which indeed caused us great sorrow. But, no matter how many times previously we assured her that she is never unworthy to come to church, and there is no depth of sorrow the atonement cannot reach, she just wouldn't buy it. So, finally on Sunday we laid it out, because she really wants to be baptized to feel clean, but thinks she can do so before going to church. So, we had an impromptu lesson on Sunday, we told her you have to come to church to get baptized, you have to take the remaining discussions from us, and baptism is not just a one and done, but you have to keep coming, keep changing for the better, and keep growing. Thankfully, she agreed to do all those steps and so we have her on a phantom bap date for the end of June.
Tausch: Exchange in German. This week I had my first one. Elder Morley is our district leader, so he Tausched with Elder Bain, the other golden, and so I was with Elder Hank Munro Pferdin from Boise, and what a time is was. We had an absolutely boof day. In the morning we had an absolutely peak comp study, and tried street approaches, we talked to mostly Germans, and you can imagine how successful that was. Conveniently, or rather not, we were working in his area book, and all his lessons, and our meal appointment fell through, so we had nothing. After lunch, we were invigorated to find more, but promptly did not. We did a language study near Rathaus and Instadt, since I had never seen it. Finally, then, we did some finding, we rid the U-Bahn and fulfilled our "40 minute Muslim bashing block". That sounds rather bad, and I will be the first to condemn bashing, but this was merely a funny title we gave to a rather enormous misuse of time. We tried approaching this dude on the U-Bahn, he was Islamic and at first we were having a good discussion. Then he asked us what we knew 100%, Pferdin said that the Spirit is by us always according to our faith. He then went off saying that a feeling is not 100% known. He then spent the next 30 minutes telling us that for someone to be a prophet they have to do a miracle, and then it has to be recorded. He also told us how the Quran was the only book with a perfect balance of Rhythm and prose and a bunch of other stuff. Also, when we took more than two seconds to answer, he would switch to English, which always makes my companion's blood boil a little. Anyway, we rode the train nearly ten stops too far sucked into this vortex of a lesson that he was giving us. Eventually we left, headed back the other way, filmed a tik tok of us dancing with some lady from Cameroon, and visited a friend who was not home. Finally, the day was nearing to an end, and we got approached by a totally drunk dude. He asked who we were, offered us Cocaine and Weed as one does. Then we in turn invited him and his friends to church. They laughed, and then got angry. By now (even though he was exceedingly drunk) he realized that we were, in fact, American. I say this because his next words were, "Go back to your country", and then he hit us with the sieg hiel (Nazi salute). We promptly took off from this dude, who grew more agitated by the second, and found ourselves in the fifth largest cemetery in the world. We wandered for 30 minutes looking for an exit (the place is so big the graves are separated into sections by what nationality they were). We could not find said exit, but had to get home, so in full proselytizing clothing, we jumped the cemetery fence and ran for the bus.
Stat Line: Not all of us serve in France. Today was a tough week KI wise. I will be the first to say KI's do not determine a missionary, their success, or their effort. However, they can help discern what methods are working, and which are not. This week we were well below our goal for church attendance. But, I am so grateful that Ivy and Ali showed up. We had amazing experiences with both of them (Ivy's is listed below). But we were fired up about not meeting our KI goal, and it was honestly what we needed. I am perfectly content if this entire journey, through all my best efforts (that being the kicker) that it is only one soul (even if it is only myself) that I am able to bring closer to Christ. But, I realized that it is our job to help as many people as possible, and so for the first time, I was stoked to go find more people to bring to church, more people to expose to the wonderful message, and more people to help. So, as one does in Hamburg, we went and farmed Wandsbek Markt for friends.
Ghanian 101: Almost forgot this one. Every week we have district council, and this week our training was by Elder Pferdin, and it was on how to speak Twi. For those of you unfamiliar, Twi is one of the spoken languages in Ghana. Elder Pferdin has served here, and in Wilhelmsburg (African Majority) and consequently has learned a lot of Twi. He gave us a true Twi crash course that we could use to talk to new friends, for it always makes their day when we try. Among the learned phrases were "Me pow chow Etiseyn" = Please how are you, "Me free America" = I am from America, "Me Dindi _______" = My name is (in my case, Me Dindi Kwaeko Bronie, because Ghanian names are based off what day of the week you were born, and bronie simply means white guy). And most importantly, "Bruh Asaryi" = Come to church. I am happy to say the Twi training was both lit, and very useful in street contacts.
Ivy: Short story, she pulled up to church miraculously, loved relief society, and afterwards, said she wanted to pay tithing. Mind you, she had literally never been to our church before. So, we explained to her she didn't have to but she insisted. So, I explained to her how fast offerings work, what the money goes to, and she donated five euros. I have never heard of a friends making such a donation on their first day.
Summary: This week has been a party. I fear I have taken for too much of your time. But, I can witness that the sun has definitely begun to shine on what I thought would be a dark and dreary transfer. I am so grateful for the opportunity I get to speak German, to get yelled at by randos, to eat awesome food, and help people every day. I can say that this situation is quite enjoyable. Reading the Book of Mormon every day has helped me see the good, and not go insane. Anyway, I love you all very much. I wish you a great week, whether it be your last in MTC, or your first in a new job. Everyone on this list has made a great impact on my life, and I thank you all for your support. If you haven't heard it in awhile, just let it be known, Kwaeko Bronie in Hamburg loves you and is looking out for you.
-M.J.
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