Hallo :)

Oreo cake

 

Chocolate on jello?

 

The Hug klingel (doorbell)

 

 

Hallo :)

 

To first explain the pictures, ge? So...I already can't remember which ones I did. Darn it. I hit the 2000 picture mark this week! Well, I think I am at 2001 to be exact. That is my whole mission so far. Crazy. Anyway... oh yeah, that is an oreo cake that I made :) then we froze it and it was way good. Yes, it came from a box, so I am not THAT skilled at cooking. (By the way, Elder Allan can make some good fried eggs!) And then there is also some jello, not made by me, rather Sis. Anderson, and it was peach with peaches and whipped cream, and I topped it off with Halbbitter Rittersport :) But Elder Allan doesn't like that kind of chocolate. Too bad haha. And the picture in the middle.... oh yeah, we saw a klingel named Hug :) thought that was nice. Too bad it was way windy and half raining. I really felt like a hug.

 

Also, that is pretty cool that now we have a seemingly big connection between our family and Elder Allan´s. As we logged on to email today, he told me that he had heard from his mom that his aunt used to live in Mountain Home. And I said, "What??!! You didn't tell me that! Who is it?" Elise Johnson. Sadly I don't remember them....wait, now I do! Oh yeah! That is cool. Then you told me the same thing in your email! Hope all is now cleared up, eh? That is crazy! By the way, you´ll have to tell Sis. Johnson that Elder Allan is training me, not the other way around. Then we have the full Wahrheit. :)

 

This week has been interesting! This last week, I mean. The weekend finally warmed up, but the weather on Saturday, when we did our finding day here in Landshut, was sunny and warm, then suddenly rainy and cold. Bleh. Speaking of the finding day, I had a great time! We talked to so many people, like more than I have ever before in a day. There was a big carnival thing that Elder Jones and I walked by to contact, and that is why there were lots of people. We saw lots of poeple in their Dirndls and Lederhosen. Some young guy, totally drunk out of his mind, stopped us at Bahnhof and told us to go to the big party and have lots of beer and see lots of pretty girls. He was 18. What kind of life is that?! Other than all the teenagers drinking beer, it was cool to see all the traditional clothing. Kinda unreal haha. I need lederhosen. That is my mission area, nowhere else in the world. Anyone willing to donate to a "Buy Elder Gibbons Lederhosen fund?" Haha.

 

But yeah, we didn't find a single potential that day. No one did! I think back in the day, that would have made me very sad and depressed. But I have a better attitude now. We really gave all we had. I am sure the Savior has been there before, days where there was just no one willing to listen to him. I get to do the same thing, then! We found some cool people yesterday, so we are still always having something to do! And today we are hopefully playing sports with some of the youth in the ward, and hopefully they bring their friends!! And we did get to play Fußball last week, finally! It was fun! Some Italian guy came and played with us (an older guy) and the Sisters with us weren't too thrilled when he just changed his clothes right there on the field. Then he started telling us how to do everything haha. It was funny :) But they have his information now, the Munich elders! A potential gefunden, that is why we played Fußball. Also, these two guys walked up to us, turned out to be Americans and they started talking to us. They said, "hey, sorry, but we are baptized already." One of the sisters thought they were just joking and having fun with us Mormon missionaries. But they really were members haha. They wanted to play with us, but we were done with Pday. Too bad. Small world.

 

As for the Bayerisch breakfast, they just use their normal style Bavarian soft pretzels. It is a Bavarian thing, the pretzel is. And it is just normal with salt. Nothing too crazy. But delicious :) I have frozen pretzels at home, and I am going to try making some cinammon sugar ones sometime, or maybe try some other cool things. They also have a thing they sell at bakeries called the Butter Bretzel. And that is what it is--just a pretzel cut in half with butter. The Sisters intoduced those to us. I have had my one for the year. Haha.

 

I don't know what to tell you about this week. We have met multiple times with P_____ this week, but he just doesn't understand things. He just says yes, even after we try to make sure he doesn't have any questions. Yesterday he told us that the Jehovah's Witnesses believe that Jesus Christ will come again, and he told us that he knew that Jesus wasn't coming again. Yeah. So we explained to him that He will come again, and then we will be happy in His presence, if we do what we need to do here. We also committed him to a baptismal date, because we wanted to have a goal for him, but he said he would think about it. So we also know more about how motivated he is/isn't to do the things we ask him. If he doesn't get things straight, we don't have time to meet with him as often. He is a nice guy,and very friendly. He does love Jesus Christ. So I hope that he can find his way back to Him, either with our help or with future missionaries. There is also the family from Turkey, who are Muslim, but not super strict Muslim. We aren't very sure what they are wanting out of our visits either. So we will be establishing those expectations next time.

 

What more can I say? The work goes on, and I am happy. Really. I come home feeling tired, but a good tired, like Dad talked about. I love trying to help people come closer to Christ. Elder Allan and I have so much fun working. Why wouldn't I be happy? It comes from the gospel, that is the truth. I am happy even though I meet rude people everyday, even though my shoulders may hurt or it is uncomfortably warm or cold. Ich bin zufrieden. Und so ist es.

 

I finished Alma this week, and I love reading about the sons of Helaman and Captain Moroni and Lehi and Teancum and all those awesome people. Now I am in Helaman and I read today about Nephi and Lehi, sons of Helaman, son of Helaman (fun stuff, eh?) ;) they were awesome! I hope I can follow their examples.

 

I am so grateful to be called to serve the Lord Jesus Christ with all of my heart, might, mind, and strength. I am so grateful for all that I have learned, for who I have become. I know that the Savior lives, and that He leads His church on the earth today. The Prophets and Apostels are men of God, and one can trust fully in the things they counsel us to do. Happiness comes only in and through living the way the Lord has asked us to. There is peace in this troubled world.

 

I wish you all the best, and thank you for your wishes and prayes and thoughts. The Lord will watch over you and bless you. You´ll be in my heart!

 

Keep Smiling :)

 

Elder Jalen Gibbons