Noch eine Woche (One More Week)

I don't quite know where to begin. This week was interesting. I had a few really rough days, followed by some really good ones, so I don't exactly know how to classify it. All of our appointments fell out this week. Not in advance, but showing up on the doorstep and having no one home. That was hard. We were only able to teach one single lesson this week, with Michael (Nigerian), because he refuses to pray about the Book of Mormon and won't except anything but the bible as the word of God. Yeah, that was rough. 

But on the brightside we did a TON of service this week. 2 service projects on Tuesday, two on Thursday, and one on Saturday. :-) The first one on Tuesday was completely unexpected. I was on exchange with Elder Hustead, We had just finished Lunch (I made Wiener schnitzel) and we were going outside to go by on a few people. But there was a lady moving into the apartment next to us. Helped by her sister and her mom, I think. They didn't have a moving van, they had just packed up their cars and brought what they could down. A now divorced mother with two young kids. So we quickly dropped out backpacks and helped them take everything in. 

That wasn't all of it though, they would go back to Wolfort, and get the next wave of things. They said that it would take them 30 minutes or so, so when they went to do that Elder Hustead and I went by on a few people ( all not home) then came back and unloaded the next wave of items. Then they had one more set of things, so we repeated the process. They were incredibly grateful that we helped them do that, and we talked to them a bit about who we are, and what we do etc. They seemed pretty impressed by that, and said that they will invite us over for cake sometime. Cool. :-) Another chance to talk a bit about the church. 

Then later that night we went to Frau and Herr Vuissa (the Grandparents of Christian Vuissa, who is not a member of the church) and pulled weeds again (we do this weekly). It is a great compromise, we generally work for 90 minutes, then Frau Vuissa generally feeds us. REALLY GOOD FOOD. Things that I have never had before (or anything even close to it), family recipes essentially, so the only place that one would be able have this food is from her. I have been getting recipes from her too. :-) I just need to learn how to decipher her handwriting. I think it would be easier if it was in English, I am not fully familiar with all the Cooking Vocabulary in German. So I need to work on that, but I do have the recipes! :-) She says she is too old to change religions, but she seems to really appreciate us coming down and working for her. She really likes us.

Then on Thursday morning, we were in Lindau helping a member install Sheetrock on his ceiling (essentially just holding it up while he screwed it into place). That was neat, and he really appreciated it. The main Success though was with Eugen. We helped him again on Thursday and Saturday. His brother had driven down from Northern Germany to help him out. But both were very impressed that we came back. We split logs nearly the entire time that night, which is REALLY REALLY FUN. We didn't get much of a chance to talk on Thursday during the service, but Eugen's brother drove us back, and we talked to him the whole way. He took a Book of Mormon and was interested in reading it. 

We told them that we would come back on Saturday and help some more, so we did. The log splitting was essentially done, we were just taking care of the small branches at that point, chopping them up into smaller piles to be burnt. Eugen left and picked up some meat, and he grilled it over one of the fires. :-) So we got to sit down a bit and talk to them and eat. That was awesome. Eugen was so thrilled "thank you so much for your help, thank you that I can even say thank you!". Then he said to come by whenever we are in Hohenems, not just to service but to talk. YES!! 

He is so incredibly interested, since he found out that we don't just help him but others, and we don't take any money for what we do. I think he will listen and really seek to learn for himself if it is true. He comes from Kazakhstan but has lived in Germany for 20 or so years. His wife is Russian. Which is awesome, because Marvin, a YSA in our ward, served a mission in Russia, and is engaged to a Russian, and they will come and live here! That will give Eugen and his wife some good friends to interact with. We will try and go by again to help him with some more service this week, and hopefully be able to start teaching him ( and if possible, his wife too!)

Yesterday it was HOT. 35 degrees Celsius. With also a high humidity. Bleh. Terrible day to have 3 appointments fall out and having to spend the time going door to door when nearly everyone was at the beach. 2 of those appointments were in Egg. So we did a bit of door to door there and found a lady who invited us back on Tuesday at 3 to here the message of the restoration :-). Its rather ironic that I get excited about a made out appointment after having 2 fall out, but I still was/am! Its cool to be able to make an appointment out on the spot with someone, usually they say "just come by, and if I am here we will talk". So it was still a success. 

That night was also really cool. We had an appointment at 18 with Sasha, an 18 year old Serbian. That fell out, so we went by on a few people and tried coming back at a little after 19. His dad was out front and told us that they were Orthodox, and that they won't be changing, so go away and don't ever come back. I hate it when that happens, when a relative makes a statement, and you don't get to talk to the person who actually has interest. I never know what to do. As for now, there isn't anything we can do. If we bump into him again down the road we can try to decide. 

So we had 30 minutes or so till we planned to have dinner. So we start walking out toward Dr. Anton-Schneider Straße. We get to it, and decide to go left. So we start walking up the street. We talked to a guy walking toward, who completely ignored us, ok so keep walking. We walk past a building, and decide to try dooring it. No one is home, ok continue get to the next one. This time, the 2 klingel we ring, someone answered, they actually came outside and talked to us. They gladly took a Book of Mormon, and asked us if we could come back TONIGHT! So we have a lesson with them tonight. The name on the Klingel that I can remember is "Heiss". I don't know first names. Just a guy and his girlfriend. But they seem to be really interested! They even tried paying us for the Book of Mormon. Needless to say we are excited at the possibility of gaining two new investigators tonight! :-)

That is pretty much everything exciting that happened this past week. On Monday, we went to a Castle in Wolfort that Elder Robins and I found awhile ago. That was cool, we had to hike through a forest though to get to it. I attached those pictures. 

 1.) Me in the forest on the way there ( we didn't anticipate needing to walk through that area, which is why we are still wearing a shirt and tie)

 2.)  me right next to the castle ( just a small Castle)

 3.) Castle Gate

I am kind of sad. Elder Esplin wasn't really into doing much on P-days because he said that there wasn't much to do. But in the past week or so I have found a ton of cool things... oh well. The castle in Wolfort was a brief trip, but it was cool. :-) We didn't get to go inside it, people actually still live there, so we just walked around outside and took pictures. More pictures below.

As for next week, I need to mention something. The Zone has organized a hike in Sankt Gallen, which, if we go, will take all day. President Miles has asked me to inform you that the e-mail won't come on Monday, but TUESDAY next week. Again assuming we go, we don't live in Switzerland, so we don't get free travel. The money would be personal, and the price, as far as the Zone Leaders could tell, was 50 Euro per person ( for us). If that really is the case, then we won't go, and you will receive the e-mail on Monday as normal. But if you don't get an e-mail on Monday, that means that we found a cheap way to go, and you will get the e-mail Tuesday. Right now it is looking like it will be Monday ;-). 

Well thats all for this week. I love you all, and hope all is well!

Love, 

Elder Ryan K. Christensen

P.S.

Pictures

 1) Castle Courtyard

 2) "2 carriage Garage"

3) "Look! It even has a mote!"

  Me and Elder Hustead ( Elder Hustead wearing my jacket ( I left it on a table and went to the restroom, and he took it and put it on)

 Elder Hustead wearing my giant jacket ( In the primary room in Dornbirn for a District Meeting)

Me after service at Frau Vuissa ( while on exchange with Elder Hustead) ( You can see the missionary tan, a tan line just below the middle of the neck ;-) )

 Pictures of the Castle in Wolfort

 Pictures of the Castle in Wolfort

Picture of the hike