Hallo Austria!

Servus! (sehr-voos)

Well, our plane rides were actually not too bad, but of course i couldn't sleep much. Ah, it is really weird typing on a Deutscher computer. The shift button on the left is super small and I keep missing it. tut mir leid. Anyway, (wow I am not going to type that word again. The y and z are switched and it is hard to reach) Klagenfurt is so cool! Oh, München was cool too, but what I saw was not anything I saw two years ago, as far as I remember. We just walked from the airport to the S bahn station (which was actually right under the airport) and then rode to the stop where we got off and walked to the mission office building. Of course, we had some BoMs to give away on the train, but I failed :(... haha I did talk to a nice older woman the first time, with Elder Hansen. But then Elder Hansen was feeling really sick like he might throw up, so we went to talk to the APs. Elder Carter was talking (with Elder Botcherby) to a Korean woman. The woman did like massage therapy on Elder Hansen's hands and back and neck and then got some water out of a bottle and blessed him in the name of Jesus Christ. It was a cool and funny experience. We got to the mission office and of course everyone was just so tired! We were allowed to stand up to stay awake if we ever needed to, so people did during the presentation by President and Sister Miles. The funniest thing was Elder George, who managed to fall asleep while standing! I looked around at everyone headbobbing and such and I couldn't stop myself from laughing haha. I have been there before (jetlag), and it was nice to see some other people going thru it as well. We did some roll plays and then walked to the Mission Home for dinner which was spetzel or something like that. It was good, with hamburger sauce on top. Just a noodley thing. We had a meeting together with all the trainers, and each trainer stood up and said something about their area and about an investigator. Then when they were done, Pres Miles said Elder .... You are working with this trainer! So everyone got up and hugged their trainer and then sat with them. The first one to go was the trainer in Bern Switzerland, and the newbie who went there was a German elder from Hamburg. Yeah, he already speaks German. And we have heard that maybe Switzerland will open up next year. We shall see.

OKay, church was great yesterday, and I got to introduce myself. A lady came up afterwards and said "I need to make sure, did you say that you had 9 months of German training?" so i said, "no it was 9 weeks." She was amazed and said I probably spoke better than her. Which I denied, but thanked her anyway. My problem is comprehending what people say haha. It is getting better.

We have walked about 8 hours nonstop in the last two days. Just ringing on doors and talking with those who pass by. We actually got kicked out of a building by some old lady who had no authority to do so. That was exciting haha. We have been eating aókay too, and today we are going to buy more groceries.

So we have a family that we teach every Monday and Friday. The father is already baptized, and the wife is getting baptized for sure on August 18th. So we go and teach them, and then they always feed us. On Friday they fed us some presswurst, which was carrots and ham and other things all in gelatin. Yeah...interesting. And then she had good rolls in the oven to warm them, and when I asked if there were more rolls she needed to take out, she thought I pointed to the presswurst, so she gave it to me again and I took more.... But it was good. Their two kids were so fun. So we go back there tonight and teach again.

Well, everything is going great! My trainer is awesome and I have a lot that I can learn from him. I haven't been talking much in appointments and such or on the street just because I can't understand much haha. But I am working on it.

Oh, I think maybe Sis. Miles sent you my address, but just in case: Maria-Platzer 2/1 Klagenfurt 9020 Austria. However, there might be some more numbers, so I will make sure to get it right next time. Thanks for all your prayers, and you are all always in mine. Be safe and never stop smiling! :)

Love you all,
Elder Jalen L Gibbons

PS I did not get my SD card yet. But I will let you know.

PPS I had my first donner and fanta last week!