Week 4 accomplished!

Guten Morgen!

 

Okay, last week I was late for breakfast by about 20 minutes, and even though the lines are great towards the end, my whole district finished way before me haha. So this time I should be right on time. We tried to do laundry at our early time today and NOTHING was available! Ich haße laundry here! (the German word for hate looks cooler). So now we have to figure out some other time to sneak in there.

 

I got a letter from Logan yesterday! It's about time he responded to the letter I sent 6 months ago ;) haha jk Logan, it was awesome! I showed everyone the Armenian "Jesus the Christ" card he sent with it--it is a weird looking language!

 

So yesterday I scored a hat trick in soccer finally! But the best part was when I rainbowed it straight over Elder Guymon (my Zone leader who is really good). It was the fußball highlight of my day haha.

 

Brother Ehlen was sick yesterday, so we had a sub who served in Hamburg/Berlin. That means we didn't get to teach Paul :/ naja... (whatever/oh well). We learned a lot about the Berlin mission, because the Berlin half of my district was so excited to hear about their mission instead of our beautiful Alpine Mission ;) So the teacher spoke in a bunch of weird accents, like a deep and slurred Saxon, as well as the hard-sound Berliner accent. The guys in my district loved it! We learned that way up north the people start using some Skandinavian mannerisms, like saying "Ja" while they inhale. I cannot do that! I automatically breathe out when I speak haha. Elder Taylor is really good at it though. The best thing was the sub's faces that he made when saying different things. It was almost comical.

 

So the fireside Sunday night was Stephen B Allen again, the missionary department guy. He told us that he speaks quite often, since we just saw him two weeks ago. This time was so relaxed and fun, he just showed us all the really old Mormon Message commercials that are pretty cheesy. But he pulled the one-liners out of every one and applied it to our work as companionships and missionaries in general. I have the notes in my journal, but one of the ones I liked was "Being yourself is being great!" or "It's not who you aren't, it's who you are." Very applicable in all aspects of life. I've heard those things for many years, but it helps to reapply it every so often. This is the guy who always asks first if anyone has received a Dear John letter yet, and he makes them stand up. So Tyson probably told you already, but we got to stand up because he asked who had a sibling serving, and then if the sibling was in the MTC haha. So i turned around 3 rows and pointed at Tyson. I sat behind Sister Ehlen, Brother Ehlen's sister, and we just talked with her and her companion, Sis. Feher who is from Hungary! Sis Feher has a German boyfriend, so she knows some German, and she speaks Hungarian, and she is going to Finland! Plus she didn't know ANY English before the MTC, but she speaks it so well already! The gift of tongues is so true! After the fireside we stayed to watch the Testaments, because it is Elder Taylor's favorite movie (actually 2nd favorite, his first is Knight's Tale). He wrote down all of the great quotes and yesterday he asked Bro Evans to translate them for him haha. But, my favorite part was right at the end, when Helam (the dad) is asking his son to describe the Savior to him, because he is blind. Then Jacob is just telling him how wonderful He is, and mourning that it is his fault that his dad is blind. Then the Savior comes and pulls Jacob aside, and all he says is one word: "Helam." How the Savior said that one word showed how much He cares for each of His brothers and sisters (us). Of course, Christ healed Helam so that he could see Him, and the end of the movie is just looking at Christ's smiling face. He loves each of us more than we can comprehend. Out of all the people in the city square in the movie, Christ found his brother Helam and granted him his one lifelong wish of seeing the Savior.

 

Sis Feher sat in front of us during the movie, and she had a translator with her. The guy turned around and apologized for it probably being kind of annoying, but we didn't mind. Elder Botcherby told me afterward that this guy got a text from his wife (most likely) saying "come home." So he replied "Soon babe. Jesus is coming." (The movie was almost at the part where Christ appeared to the Nephites at the temple). That was funny.

 

Brother Evans told us last night a few traps to watch out for when we get to Germany on our first day, things that senior companions might pull on us (they hadn't happened to him, he was just making them up haha). One was not to fall for getting a Kaiserschnitt haircut! It means a C-section haha. I also learned a cool quote from a dragon off of Skyrim, of all places. (Elder Taylor's brother sent it to him; Elder Taylor and Robins turned out to be hardcore gamers, like World of Warcraft aand such haha. Reminded me of Ben!) Anyway, this wise old dragon said, "Discipline in the lesser aids in denial of the greater." Meaning, discipline in the lesser trials and tribulations of your life will aid in denial of giving into the harder ones. Look what you can learn from video games, eh? Oh I didn't have to speak in Sacrament this week! Score! It was on the Holy Ghost. But Elder Robins spoke haha. It was funny, he was looking for a scripture and couldn't find it, and he said "Was die heck!" which is a phrase that I coined!! I was so proud of his usage, and he didn't even break character up there! Only our district got it haha. Have I told you how excited I am to have the potential to learn Swiss Deutsch? It isn't a big chance, since my missions isn't specificallly Switzerland, but Bro Ehlen speaks it so well and it is like singing a song while talking! It is totally different then the High German they teach us here. I really hope I get a chance to learn some of it.

 

Anyway, to end with a quote by Pres. Thomas S. Monson: "There are feet to steady, hands to grasp, minds to encourage, hearts to inspire, and souls to save. Are we doing all we should?" I am trying to do everything I possibly can, but I know it's not enough. None of us can measure up to our full potential without Christ, so seek to go about your business with Him always by your side. Be safe and always smile! I love you all!

 

Love,

 

Elder Jalen L Gibbons