Tuesday was the BIG DAY Kristin´s BAPTISM

      Ok I didn´t get any packages...but the mail might have not come yet today so maybe today...Just tell Dallin he is cool like me now and has two dads like I had two moms. The family history stuff sound really cool I want to get into it when I get home. That sucks that you didn´t sleep good like the whole week! I would die! I get 8 hours of sleep and I still am super tired every day!  Wow you must love these missionaries! They are lucky that you feed them so often and it is always such yummy food. I haven´t watched the women conference yet. I think they show it Sunday or Saturday here and I don´t know about bubble bread I think I will try to make it but I don´t know if I will be able to find a Bundt pan so it might be a different shape haha. I am glad you liked the movie and I guess it will just be another thing on my list to do when I go home haha. Ok on to the WEEK! 

 

      Tuesday was the BIG DAY Kristin´s BAPTISM!!!!!!!!!!!!! Besides the actual baptism we just met with our Ward Mission Leader and had our weekly meeting it was good but it was right before the Baptism so he was kind of rushed haha. We had plenty of time. The Baptism was BEAUTIFUL!!!! Kristin was so happy and it was a very special moment when I got to see her get baptized. I was also able to give the talk about baptism and that was super fun. I loved being able to bear my testimony to her one last time before she was baptized. After the baptism Sister Zenger played her violin and Kristin bore her testimony. It was the sweetest testimony! So pure and simple. After the program when we were eating the refreshments Kristin came up to Sister Zenger and I and said " I just want to thank you for getting me to this point for teaching me " AWWWWWWWWWWWWWW She is so cute I will never forget this girl she is so special to me!!!

Kristin's Grandmother and brother-in-law

Kristin's sister

Sister Miller got to come for the Baptism

 

      Wednesday the bahns were not going again so that meant another day of WALKING. Also meaning not being able to meet with so many people. We ended up doing study then walking to the main train station and taking a train to Essen Hügel which is the closest stop to the church, still about an hour walk. So once we got there our navi died....so we were walking in the direction we thought the church was hoping we would see something we recognized haha. We got some ice cream to cheer us up and we came across the place we went hiking a couple of p days ago and from there we knew where to go, Heavenly Father is very patient and loving haha. Once we got to the area of the church we went by on some less active members and active members in the area until it was time for our ward night. Ward night not many were there because of the bahns not going but it was still really fun, the members were amazed that we had walked to the church haha.

 

     Thursday the bahns were still on strike so in the morning we walked to the main train station and took a train to Mülheim then walked to the church building there for district meeting. It was a really good district meeting. It was about listening. I learned a lot that I need to apply. After that we ate lunch together and then went back to our home and did some study till we met with Angelika, lucky for us we normally walk to her house anyways so the bahns didn´t get us! After Angelkia we went home and finished our studies.

 

     Friday the bahns were going again! It was a good thing because we had a busy day. We started with normal studies and then went to Bonnie for help with German. Then we met with Sister Kretzschmann for lunch right after then right after that we had our clean check. We were almost to our house and we got a call from the people checking our apartment and they were like are you home? Right then we walked around the corner and were home! Perfect timing. We passed no problem :) After that we did weekly planning and then went to Kristin’s and helped her in her garden which is super cool. In Germany a garden is not the same as we know. They usually have a little house in them and it is like a getaway place. Her garden is really cool.

 

     Saturday started with us helping a less active member move out. She had a ton of stuff and of course she lived on the top floor. But she was super nice and it was good to meet the rest of her family. In the middle of moving her out we had transfer calls and Sister Zenger will be in Essen Serving with...............Sister Erickson (She is super nice and is in Münster right now). I will be going to Heidelberg, which is apparently everyone’s dream place because it is so beautiful. I am excited to go and have new experiences.I am also really sad to leave all these people that I love. After transfer calls we finished helping with the move then went to Kristin’s and helped more with her garden.

 

     Sunday Kristin received the Holy Ghost and that was super special. I think it was a wonderful last Sunday. I was able to bear my testimony to the ward one last time. I will miss them. It was sad saying good bye. Some people were sadder than I thought they would be. It is strange the influence we have on people that we don´t know that well. This one guy I had never met with was on the verge of tears as he said good bye to me. I still will get to see a lot of them before I leave and I am grateful for that. After church we went to Kristin´s birthday party (What a gift the Holy Ghost haha). That is why she needed so much help with her garden because she wanted to have her party in it. The party was strange because it was mostly her family which are all not members except her grandma and sister. There was smoking and beer not my place but we were there to support Kristin. We gave her a photo book with pictures from her baptism and pictures of us with her. She LOVED it she showed everyone the pictures haha it was so cute! After the party we just did study and I started packing.

 

     That was my week lots of big things. I am grateful for all of them! I know this is the work of the Lord and I am happy to be a part of it :)

 

LOVE YOU ALL

Sister Wrathall

The day of the Open Door (tours of the church building)

The Glasers

Reminder that Kristin wrote to read the Book of Mormon

Müller milk we had coconut pitazio milk

Bonnie and Mario T

Dimitry

Thursday was my one year mark crazy!

Tuesday the bahns (Trains) were on strike so we had to walk to bahnhof (Train Station) because luckily it was only the buses and u-bahns (Subway) and straßenbahns (Street Cars) that were on strike but the trains were still going. We had to go to Dortmund so if the trains didn´t go that would have been bad haha. So we went to Dortmund because we had Zone Conference. It was really good I think just what I needed to hear. Now the trick is to actually do the things I learned.

Dear Passengers. The union is on strike all day today (well that's what it says pretty much)

 

Wednesday we had a pretty blank day so that meant we went to the Mensa to talk with some people. That didn´t work out too well this time. After that we went to where the students lived and ringed some door bells not much luck but it was fun. The students are at least nice haha. This one guy came to the door and just started shaking his head I couldn´t help but laugh it was so funny! After that we went to a castle that has a big walking area behind it and tried talking with people there, met a nice man but not much luck. After that we went to the church for a lesson with Kristin and Annika was there to be our joint teach. Kristin showed up 1 and a half hours late!!!! SO we didn´t have time to teach her because ward night had begun. For ward night we talked about family trees it was pretty good.

 

Thursday was my one year mark crazy! Didn´t really do anything special but Sister Zenger made me a sign haha. We did get to meet with some of my favorite people though. Bonnie, Sister Roch and the Lichius family. Sister Roch made me a yummy cake. It was a good day because all of our lessons went really well I am grateful for these members. I am grateful to be in Germany serving the Lord :)

 

Friday we did weekly planning and met with Frau Rickl and she was kind and gave us 2 skirts and a shirt don´t worry there is a picture. Woot clothes from a 94 year old lady. The skirts actually were not too bad haha. She on the other hand is not open for the gospel which is really sad because she is super nice and cool but just isn´t willing to hear. It is tough because she is a referral from bishop. After her we met with Kristin we got to her apartment and it was a mess, dishes everywhere and shattered glass from a broken light bulb. We helped her clean and changed her light bulb for her. It felt good to help her and to show her that we love her. I think that strengthened my relationship and love for her. I am so excited to see her get baptized tomorrow for her to feel clean.

 

Saturday we went to help the Dietriks move in but the must have told us the wrong time because we got there and waited and waited and no one showed up. After that we went to meet with Sister Wiedauer and it takes so long to get to her house. But worth it haha. We told her that bishop had said we need to work with her specifically in doing missionary work and she was so excited she was like ok! What are we going to do? Doors?! It was so cute haha. We had a really good meeting with her. I am excited to work more with her in the future.

 

Sunday was really good. So many people were at church it was nice to see so many people there even Bruno showed up after not coming last week (The boy we found on the way to institute that is a member). All the lessons were really good and sacrament meeting was super! After Church we met with Sister Wieker and she fed us lunch and she talked to us about how we should stay in contact with Dimitry and Bruno because us 4 make a good team. But then she sealed the deal by praying for our future spouses...oh Sister Wieker. But we had a good time with her haha.

 

Well that was my week! I am excited for this upcoming week to see what will happen with transfers! Love you all have a wonderful week!

 

Liebe Gruße,

Sister Wrathall

 

I used cinnamon rolls again haha

     Wow does sound like a busy week full of service good job! That is cool that you got to go teach with the Sisters. Crazy how much dad has been traveling! Also crazy that he is getting tired of it I thought that would never happen. That is cool that the Relief Society is trying to start up a walking club sad that no one really came but at least Sister Groll is super cool so I am sure you had fun with her anyways :). That is cool that you got to see all of those missionaries! That is going to be the members in Dortmund this Tuesday for me :) They are always super nice and I appreciate them. The food is always yummy:) Ok now on to the WEEK!

     Monday night I used cinnamon rolls again haha, we went to the Rösler family and usually when we are there it is really just Bruder Rösler and the rest just say hi and leave so I used my baking skills to make them stay. It only worked for one of the kids but that is better than none right! She was so excited to learn how to make cinnamon rolls and at the end she gave us her cell phone number and said she would love to bake with us again! So progress slow and steady.

      Tuesday we went to this retirement home and cleaned for this old lady haha. On the way there Sister Zenger asked me if I was scared and I said no and asked if she was she said yes! This lady is super old and I can´t understand her at all haha. I told her not to worry. It went super well. It was so cute when we got there we got the key to her room and opened the door ( She is too weak to open the door herself) And she was in her wheelchair waiting by the door to tell us that she couldn´t open the door for us and we would have to go get the key. It must have taken her forever to get to the door. SO cute! I was able to understand her and she loved talking to us. She didn´t stop talking the whole time it was a good service opportunity that we now get to do every month. After that we met with Sister Dittmann, which is this less active lady. She was super nice and wants to come to church but says she can´t because of her health. She also was a talker. Man, those appointments are hard to keep to an hour or less haha. Then the young women asked if we would go and get ice cream with them...we said yes, it was fun to get to talk with them.

      Wednesday we went to the mensa and had a cool experience. We sat across from this one lady and started to talk and she was super nice, it was hard to believe that she was German haha. She kept the conversation going, then asked if we would want to go with her to get a coffee we told her we don´t drink coffee but she said there is other stuff there to so we went and continued our conversation. I got banana nekter :) YUMMY! She said she would like to meet up with us again and we were able to bear some good testimony to her the only problem is that she only works in our area but doesn´t live there so we will have to give her to the elders in the area where she lives. Then we had ward night and Xicjun came and she had a good time getting to know some of the members she said they were all really nice :)

      Thursday we were taken out by Bart and Mado for ice cream for Sister Zenger´s Birthday and that was fun. They have tons of good ideas for missionary work the hard part is just putting them into action. Then we went to institute with Xicjun cool story. SO we met at HBF ( the main train station) to ride to Dortmund together and we were going up to our gleise and this boy starts tapping Sister Zenger on her shoulder and she thought it was me haha but she turned around and it was this boy and he told us that he is a member of our church. We must have looked sceptic because he was like no joke, really! Turns out he just moved to Essen a week ago. He asked where the church was and then we told him that we were actually going to institute and asked if he would want to come and he said ok. So his name is Bruno and he speaks English Italian Portuguese and German. He is from Brazil. He will be a good addition to our ward. Xicjun thought it was pretty cool too. The actual institute was good Xicjun said she liked it :)

      Friday we had Zone Training which was good. Sister Zenger gave a talk and she did really well. Then after we made jackas (spelled probably totally wrong) with Sister Schmidt and this family that will hopefully be investigators. It was so fun only sad thing is the family couldn´t really speak German so Sister Schmidt had to translate everything. But we showed a Mormon message in Spanish to them and had Sister Schmidt translate and she said she wants to meet with us again which is cool :)

      Saturday we met with Bonnie and then had a meeting with the Elders. Then we went to Kristin to make cupcakes and teach a lesson. The cupcake making took twice as long with her so we didn´t get to the lesson, sad. We then all went to the surprise party for Bonnie and we got her good!

      Sunday Xicjun came to church. Which was really good the only bad part is that she couldn´t understand a lot because of the language barrier. I wish someone in our ward could translate for her. After Church we met with the Rochs and that went well then we met with Bart and Mado and they made 4 cakes for us! They basically are trying to make us fat haha. We ended the day and did weekly planning. 

 

And that was my week :) Love you all

 

Sister Wrathall