So this week was kind of uneventful. My companion was a bit sick so we stayed in the apartment for a lot of time and tried to get her feeling better. She's not quite back up to 100% yet, but she'll get there soon, I'm sure. :) As for all the extra time in the apartment.... I alternated between reading the scriptures, studying Preach My Gospel, reading the books that Elder Hart said I should (that were missionary appropriate), and cleaning. As a result, I have almost made I through 1 Nephi auf Deutsch, I completely finished one book, and the kitchen and bathroom floors are spotless. I am extremely proud. :)
As for fun stuff, we finally went and visited Lorenz Kirche!!!! It is the first cathedral I ever saw here in Germany and we finally got to go inside! It was super cool with awesome, vaulted ceilings, and was really just absolutely spectacular. I think it's amazing the things that we, as the human race, have been able to accomplish as we do our best to show our devotion and appreciation to God. Never mind the fact that there was probably a lot of money thrown into it to make it stand out so people would come and pay their indulgences there instead of at another church.... It really is super cool, and I really enjoyed it. Also, Elder Clawson and Elder Morris came with us. Elder Clawson speaks Latin and knows a LOT of history. He was reading all the paintings and murals to me and Sis. Reay because they had what was happening in the picture written beneath it in Latin. Then he would tell us what he knew about that specific cathedral and the history behind it and then we would all just stand there for about 10-15 minutes and take it all in. It was super cool, and an amazing experience. So of course, I took no pictures. Oops. I'll make sure to take some today for sure.
As for the actual week, we were able to meet with Zeynep and finish our lesson from last week. Then on Sunday, we had Gemiko with our new ward mission leader and he was kind of rude and asked us why Zeynep wasn't baptized yet and what exactly were we doing as the missionaries who were teaching her because our purpose is to bring people to the waters of baptism (emphasis added, but he kind of told us we were being bad missionaries). We explained to him that her situation was a bit more complicated than he knew about, and that she does have a baptismal date and will be baptized and is actually very excited about it and has been planning every detail for the past month and a half and the only way she will not be baptized is if she dies. At which point he went, "Oh. Well then Elders is there anything from your side?" It was kind of funny. Also, if that had happened just six months ago, I would have been pretty angry about it and immediately started arguing how we are the missionaries and it's none of his business (which is not true, but that's how I would have felt). But yesterday it was super easy to just be calm about it and assume that he didn't know and understand and that's why he was asking. It was an important growing moment, and learning moment. We (the missionaries in Nürnberg, and probably everywhere) need to be better at keeping open lines of communication with the ward. It's not that we purposefully close them off, but it sometimes just gets lost in all of the other things that we need to do. So that's something that I personally want to work on, and I think I'll suggest we set some goals at the next Missionary Coordination Meeting to work on that.
I attribute all of the introspective stuff to The Other Side of Heaven. Which I started two days ago and finished yesterday (the book, not the movie. Also, we had a LOT of time in the apartment while Sis. Reay was getting better :P). I absolutely loved how Elder Groberg just fell in love with the culture, the people, and the language. And it's understandable. I absolutely love Germans. They are just an amazingly orderly, helpful, and service oriented people. Their language is precise and exact but is able to convey a ton of emotion all at once and it is incredible. I love it here. I truly love this country and the people and their language. I am so grateful for my experiences here, and I really don't want to leave. It's weird to think that I'll have been gone for six months on Wednesday. I only have one year left, and that's not enough time to do everything that I feel like the Lord expects me to do. But I can only do what I can and then try and do a little bit more. As long as I work hard and do my best, everything will work out. :)I love you all! Really!!! Have a GREAT day, and a FANTASTIC week!!!!
Love Always,
Sis. John
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P.S. Almost forgot. The JW's were trying to leave pamphlets in our mailbox. We saw them as we were leaving so they pulled it out pretty fast. Since it's almost Easter there are a lot of them out right now. It's fine. There are a lot of us, too. :)
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