June 16: Winding Down.

I started my last planner this week.

It feels really weird.

I feel like last week was SO FAR AWAY, but at the same time it flew by and I had a hard time remembering what happened... Thanks to my awesome comp who keeps a super detailed journal, she was able to help me create a basic guideline of highlights. 

So last week we hiked in the Sächsischer Schweiz which are like... The only mountains in Sachsen. I felt so much at home. It was great. Google them. They are cool.

But we got there and ended up climbing up ladders and natural slot canyons and stuff... It was super cool - I have never been on a hike like that. 

Not sure if I will go again without climbing gear.

So we have been trying to meet with this family for the longest time. She is a less active member in the ward and her husband is not a member. 

The problem is, is that their newborn baby had been in the hospital because of complications with it's birth. So we would go by occasionally to check on them and see if they needed anything that we could do or get the ward to do.... Usually they were not at home because they were in the hospital with the baby, but this week we went by and she is out! It was really neat to see them.

Romeo. Oh Romeo.

So we met with Romeo again this week. We didn't want to walk around in the heat all evening, so we took him back to the church for a church tour. 

We ended up explaining a trillion aspects of the gospel because he had a trillion questions.

He told us he would make us a deal. If we tried whiskey, he would come to church this week.

Hm. Not really how it works, bud. But thanks.

He also doesn't know when he will be able to meet next because of the World Cup.

SPEAKING OF. 

Meiiiiine Guuuuute. I have NEVER seen so many bottles of beer. Anywhere in my life. This thing is bigger than Christmas. 

And even though most of the people I have asked about their predictions say that Germany will definitely not win this year, they celebrate every single night for 4 weeks straight. Game time.

I'm almost a little jealous that I don't get to go to a Weltmeisterschaft party, but whatevs. I'll get over it. Haha

But yeah. That's why some of our investigators can't meet. 

Because the world cup is on TV.
..........?????

I have some sad news.

Remember Rolf? Our miracle man?

Well, we went back to his apartment this week to see if we could make out an appointment and he wasn't there.

Or so we thought.

We walked around the block again and came back to see if he had come back in those 15 minutes.. So I looked up at the building and there he was. In his window. (Immensiate stalker status...)

So we klingeled again... No answer. Okay Rolf, what is your deal?

I wrote him a note. Basically, I told him that we thought he was really neat and we loved chatting with him. It was neat to meet someone who was so interested in the church, but if he is avoiding us, he just needs to tell us that he doesn't want us to come by anymore and we won't.

The next day...

We were at the church building and one of the members came to find us. He said that he had found a note in the mailbox with a bunch of chocolates for us.

Guess who this note was from? Rolf.

I don't have it with me or I would write it word for word but it went something like this,

"Dear Sisters Babbitt and Sanders,

I am sorry that you wasted time coming to visit me. I am looking for a wife. Someone that I can be with and your church just can't give it to me. Everything else that you give, I have enough of. I find Mormons interesting and exotic but that's about it. Please don't contact me. Sincerely yours, Rolf"

There is a silver lining though. 

He gave us some great chocolates and that was the nicest tschüß I have ever received.

We went on exchanges this week!
It was super weird being on exchanges without conducting them... It was good though. We found a man that had been to the temple open house but didn't really know anything else about the church, and we have an appointment with him this week. 

We also received a referral from one of the contacts we have been working with. Her brother was there and wanted us to come over to him to teach him how he can be happy. Great, right?

Also, on the train ride to Berlin to pick up Sister Sanders and end the exchange, we met a kid that is in the German Army and wants to come to institute. 

Blessins!!!

So this weekend there was a mission reunion in Dresden. 

From 25 years ago. When the wall fell and the first foreign missionaries were allowed into the DDR. 

So there were a LOT of Americans in our ward this week. 

It threw me off quite a bit. 

The church is the same, but the culture of the church is totally night and day. It disturbed me a little bit to see it, to be honest. 

I take a look at the members here in Germany, and for most of them, going to church is an all day event. If you are an active member, you have to be strong in your religion. You have to live it wherever you are. I just realized how much I used to take going to church for granted. 

I liked going, but it was sometimes "something you do on Sunday" - it was never a sacrifice. 
I think I just leveled up in my love for German members.

Anyway, we also had a miracle at church. Two random guys from the street showed up and wanted to see what it was all about. 
They are members of the Frei Kircke (Free Church? Does that exist in America?) which means that they don't really have a set denomination, but the branches reach into lots of churches that believe in Jesus Christ. So you can choose to go to a Protestant, Baptist, Menonite, etc.... congregation without really belonging to it - because you can switch around.
They believe heavily in the Bible and in Jesus Christ and one of them even asked me about the Old Mosaic Law versus the New Law that Christ established when he came.

It was really cool to talk bible with them. 
They are coming to FHE and institute. 

Chalk two up for team Jesus!

Now that this email is basically the longest email of life, I just wanted to drop a line in what I learned this week.

"Prayer is made up of heart throbs and the righteous yearnings of the soul."

I really liked that because it kindof sums up what prayer actually is. The connection between God, our Heavenly Father and us - his children. 

It reminded me of the different forms of communication. Texting, letters, phone calls, and actual face to face conversations. Where do our prayers rank? Are we just slipping God a line here and there, or are we actuall communicating with him like one would with a friend face to face?

Food for thought.

I love you! Hope you have a great week!!!

Sister Babbitt