Canada Day

Turns out there is nowhere in this city we can volunteer. Ah, socialism. I love you.  Everything is a government organization.

 

Tuesday was Canada Day! So we went to an international student meeting for a presentation on America. It sort of reminded me of all the things about America I don't really like or had forgotten about. For example, I didn't know anything about Portland, but it seems way sketch!

 

Zone Conference with the new mission president was a hit. I loved his vision for the mission and his emphasis on helping everyone to make covenents with God, not just a focus on baptism but also helping members to progress. President Stoddard is just a really nice man, too. He was in church on Sunday in Erfurt, because of the leadership role he plays here, and he interviewed a guy from the district for his mission! That was so cool. I like Arturo. He'll do great.

 

Friday was INDEPENDENCE DAY! (You know, like the movie.) We went to an american grill, which was delicious, but we're almost positive the waiter was drunk. At 11:30 in the morning! What!

 

Saturday we went with the Relief Society to the BIGGEST ROSE GARDEN IN EUROPE. oooooooo aaaaaaaaa. Sorry, don't have my camera cord. But someday you will see!!!

 

We also met with Anja, and her daughter Lorena was really quiet and cute! She sat next to me and played with stuffed animals the whole time. She also told me that the skin is the best part of the potato! Then she ate like 2 with the skin on (they were really small) and then her mom had to peel the rest. Well, someday.

 

I now only have 3 sundays left in Erfurt. Sad!

 

I love you. Forgive someone today, just because you can.

 

Sister Teusch

Whiplash!

June 30, 2014

This week we sent President and Sister Schwartz home to Nürnberg with big hugs and some tears. And then Elder Brown showed us how to break boards! Which was a huge amount of fun, but we practiced a lot and so my right side tensed up. I had to practice with the left side when I got home to balance everything out!

 

We're heart attacking all the members (there aren't that many), and it's been a fun adventure. Some of them live in houses in far away villages, so getting there is the hard part. Some of them live in town, but in apartment buildings! So there's a lot of sneaking involved. One less-active, we were standing outside her complex door waiting for someone to let us in and SHE showed up! And then got all flustered and said we should have made an appointment . . . we tried to explain we were trying to surprise her. Oh well. We did stick the hearts on the door on the way out! And she loved them. Of course. Everyone loves hearts stuck to their door.

 

We're back to visiting Frau Starke. I love her. She's so funny. We were walking with her in her wheelchair and we found like, 15 coins of either 1,2 or 5 cent value just lying on the sidewalk! We gave them all to her (It's your house!), and she made each of us take a 1 cent as a good luck charm.

 

This week we had THREE eating appointments. The first one we asked for vegetables when he asked what we wanted, so he made DDR schnitzel and a cucumber salad. Close enough. The 2nd one was to watch Germany vs. America in the world cup!! It wasn't a super good game. I cheered for Germany. We won. The best part was all the snacks they had! We were a little short on money this week. And then yesterday, we had our official eating appointment. Klöse! Gotta learn how to make those. And then Sister Stoker got to play his violin. He tells the best stories about being mormon in the DDR. (You know that DDR means East Germany, right? Sorry.)

 

This week we have another zone conference, this time to greet our new mission president. Because he has jurisdiction over our district (as in a baby stake), we sustained him in branch conference on Sunday. THAT was weird. I'm going to miss the Schwarzes!

 

Love you all. Pray hard!

Sister Teusch

Things that happened this week

Sister Stoker borrowed a member's violin. She's really good! 

​

She wanted to take an angry picture. This is how we show our love! We won 1-0! Yeah! (Okay, sorry, but getting one goal in an hour and a half is just not a fun sport.)

​

We got the elders all dolled up, too! 

​

I BROKE THIS BOARD. It was so fun!!

​

And there's Huiying, everyone's favorite chinese girl. She's a superstar. 

Erfordia

June 23, 2014

Hola! I'm back in Erfurt, the land of dreams. It was sad leaving Jena and also weird because once again, I only transferred within the same district. But actually, this transfer over half of our zone changed! So I have been in this zone longer than anyone else by like 4 months, at least. Zone empress. That's me.

It was funny being back in the branch because, well, I didn't really need to introduce myself to anyone. I got lots of half hugs from the old men of the branch :P There's like a club of grandpas that are so legit.

 

Ok, I learned the coolest thing this week. There's this talk by F. Enzio Busche called Unleashing the Dormant Spirit, a BYU devotional. And from that and my personal study, I finally figured out what it means that the word of God is "quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."

 

That's really intense, and I just never really understood how God (or Christ, in D&C) could be a two-edged sword. It cuts into our soul and discerns our hearts.

 

In Luke 14:33, Christ says, "whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple." That's pretty harsh, but there it is. Elder Busche said "Christ is literally cutting a knife into our soul, making it clear to us that there is no middle way and that we have always to ask ourselves where exactly we stand. When we can, with honest reflection, says: "Yes, I am a disciple of Christ, I'm willing to sacrifice my own will, my habits, attitudes, and selfish desires, and endure the hurt and pain that such reflections cause, and bring to him as a sacrfiice a broken heart and a meek spirit, then will be baptize us 'with fire and with the Holy Ghost', and we will not be deceived."

 

Now, he was talking about how to not be deceived. But what I learned is that we are all in this world, and we have habits, attitudes, and desires that are not God's. These have been building up in our hearts for a really long time. Christ wants to heal those things, but they've been there so long that He has to break the heart so He can reset it, and it can heal properly. Like a poorly healed bone. It hurts, but He, just like a doctor, knows it's better for us that way. And so the word of God is a surgical knife. It hurts, but it's the only way for us to become whole.

 

It's kinda weird opening an area when we're 98% sure it'll be closed again, but we made great plans to focus on service and finding people who we can give to the elders when we leave. It's nice knowing that we have a very small amount of time. We made really finite, achievable goals that are keeping us focused and energized. We've also cleaned up the edges of our obedience to the mission rules to go out with a bang on the blessings front. It's been a little annoying but mostly it's been so much easier to just decide, "If the white handbook says not to, I won't; if it says to, I will." Much less time wasted on being unsure if something is ok. I really like it.

 

I love you and am looking forward to going to President Schwartz's final Zone Conference tomorrow :( Pray for the Stoddards that they get here safely and get established quickly!

 

Sister Teusch

This week

June 10, 2014

Hi Mom!

Can I just get you in trouble for a second? Literally NO ONE told me Megan Paxton is getting married! NOT A SINGLE SOUL. You're all fired. The first mention was in the emails from Rachel. Can I get a picture? Please?

One of my favorite things about knowing the book of mormon better now is that people are starting to get personalities and voices. I really love all of mormon's "and thus we see"s becuase you can just feel how exhausted and frustrated he is. "It's right here! On the paper! Please notice it! It's so important!" I think he's just excited to knowsomeone will listen someday.

This week was pretty bleh. It was hot, there was a holiday weekend so everyone was gone, and Huiying took a break to work on her thesis. She came to church and everything, but her appointments are the highlight of all of our week. We got new "lattenröste" for under our mattresses, and so our beds are a lot more comfortable, but I just don't even want to lie on it because the fabric is gross in this heat. Luckily we also got a new fan, so now we have 2 and all the windows open. I do enjoy not having AC, though. Because then when you go outside it doesn't kill you, because you're already used to it.

I was having trouble being focused in my study this week. I studied the blessings of the house of Ephraim one day, the next day I studied reverence, and today I read through "The Blueprint of Christ's Church", a fireside from Elder Callister. And I always start out wanting to just read the book of mormon and preach my gospel. I dunno! But it's always fun!

Love you! Have a marvelous week. 

Last days of Jena

June 16, 2014

Hi mom!

Transfer calls: I got transferred back to Erfurt, with Sister Stoker, for our last transfer. Sister Weber will stay in Jena with a Sister Robison, and Sister Weber is the STL now. It would have been weird to go to leadership council with a new mission president, anyway! President Schwartz has 2 weeks left. :(

This week we hit the dorms and rang those doorbells, and met a lot of really interesting students! One had even met with elders before and was willing to meet again. But the biggest thing was that a referral from a member was really willing to talk to us about her personal experiences with prayer and she really enjoys  coming to our church for activities. I really really like her and I think she's going to stick around!

On Monday it was a holiday but not our P-Day (because everything is closed on holidays) so we made sushi. Turns out sushi tastes good because you put vinegar in it! Did not know that.

Wednesday we went by Charlie and we knew that the elders were having an appointment with Zach, so we called them to let us in, and it was ridiculous. They were chucking things off the balcony at us. (the elders, not zach.)

Friday was Sister Weber's anniversary of arriving in Germany, so we went to an american bar and grill called Cheers! and got HAMBURGERS. And they were authentic!!!! The fries were even awesome. BUT. The tvs on the walls were playing volleyball, biking, golf, and a strongman competition. We were definitely still in Germany.

Saturday was our final conference call with President Schwartz and -- he didn't do it in German!!!! Darn. Ah well. "You cannot understand my german and you cannot understand my english, so I hope you can understand the spirit." I love that man.

There he is.

Here's a wrap up of the Jena branch:

Sister Weber, Meredith and Matt Durrant, me, Sister Stoker (we're short!), Jalena and Jeff Nielson, Shi Rui, Olaf and Serge, and Sister Schwendiman.

So American 8x, chinese 1x, russian 2x.

Benny, René, his fiancée Josi, with Katharina and her boyfriend Benjamin in the back. Me, Eleen, Sister Stoker, Ada (from Cuba), Sydney (RM from Canada), Zach (you know him), Sr. Böseman.

That's almost everyone. I gotta say, we're a pretty attractive branch!

This week I'll pack up my stuff and put it right back where it was for 6 months. Or maybe I'll take the other half of everything to shake things up. I've already started texting my investigators in Erfurt. Luckily Sister Weber still had the Erfurt phone and keys! Almost every sister to serve in Erfurt must also serve in Jena. I'm so special, I get to just flop back and forth! 

I love you guys! Sorry that my P-Day turned out to be Monday anyway. Gera didn't need us for their street display anymore. Have a great week! You already know my new address :D

Sister Teusch

Cool!

Lots of mission lingo in this one!

June 2, 2014

Hello!

Our mission turnover rate is messy. Basically, all the "boom" sisters will be leaving about a transfer before the next rush comes in, so there will be a lot of ghost town sister areas for about 2 months, and then they'll almost all reopen. Everyone left will be training. That's why we expected to stay in this drit (threesome), there's no turnover before we leave! BUT, we found out we're losing 1 and gaining 2 for my last transfer. So we will have to break up the drit. It's for the best. I just do not want to die with another leaver! Trunky gets all over my stuff that way.

This week was pretty busy and successful, even though it got cold and rained for 3 days. Again. Sister Stoker can't take it anymore (the cold). We met with an investigator I taught in Erfurt. Flashbacks. And we got pictures with the Erfurt merchants' bridge, and great chinese food! We met with Sister Plett's cousin, who had her baby. She is really looking forward to having her baby receive a blessing, because we explained that Jesus never baptized babies, but he did bless them! Sister Plett talked to her before about how babies cannot choose and therefore cannot sin, but that was maybe a bit too complicated for her.

Huiying continues to be a dream to teach. We talked about how to grow our faith and even though she's working on her master's thesis she figured out her own way to fit in daily scripture study! And on Sunday, we got to meet with her AND President Schwartz! She really really enjoyed that. And he loved her.

I made chocolate zucchini cake. Still as good as ever, even with fake german brown sugar. Maybe the zucchini is just better here!

I got (probably) my last interview with President Schwartz, who goes home in about 3 weeks. That'll be so strange, but I know he's very tired and is looking forward to visiting all his extended family who don't live within mission boundaries (he's from near Nuremberg, which is within the mission, so he does get to see his own kids). Mom, he said he'd love to coordinate with us so you can meet him!

On Saturday we were in the park and ran into a Syrian friend of ours and his brother. They chatted with us for a long time. I was talking to his brother, who has been in Germany longer and lives in Berlin, and he was very curious about our religion. Then he said, "Honestly, I just made him come talk to you guys because he has a hard time finding people who speak English and so he doesn't socialize very much." And then he told us his brother would be coming to FHE on Monday for sure. What a nice brother! I was really touched by that; even though neither of them are interested in investigating, they are just really good people and I hope at least the one who lives in Jena will come make friends with all us english speakers.

We have yet another leadership council this week, the very last one with President Schwartz. It'll be a little different because instead of all 5 Jena missionaries going to Frankfurt, the Coburg sisters are going to come up to Jena and then just me and the Coburg STL will go to Frankfurt together. Bummer for my companions but it's good that at least someone will be working in Jena that day. I hate leaving the city to fend for itself for whole days at a time.

She's congradumalated, too!

May 26, 2014

Zach to get on our Jena Missionaries facebook page for us (we're allowed one, we're just not personally allowed on it) and then Zach showed my companions my facebook page and ALL my old profiles pictures. Sister Stoker's been teasing me about my emo phase all day.

On Saturday we were dooring in this dorm where international students live (gold!), and we were about to ring the last doorbell on the floor when we heard footsteps, so we waited to see if that person would come down this hallway. Then I heard the person stop right behind us, so I turned around. . . and it was Zach! He lives literally across the hall from the last door, where we found a new investigator: a chinese student who has only heard the name Jesus in passing.

 

On Sunday we had an appointment with her (her English name is Charlie) and it was so cute. We spent a good half an hour just explaining prayer. How you it doesn't matter how you hold your hands, and you can say whatever you want, and she asked if when she's practicing, if she has to pray in English. We said she could pray in Chinese. . . "The Heavenly Father speaks Chinese?!" ah, adorable. Then we rang Zach to thank him for letting us in the building (the doorbells don't work from the outside. . .) and he was skyping his dad so I got to say hi. That wasn't probably kosher. Zach also gave us Rice Krispie treats. Score.

I'm so happy that President Schwartz committed us all to fill out our My Family books. Because of that, I asked all 3 of my living grandparents, all converts, to share their conversion story with me. Mom, both of your parents have written back and it was just the best to read those and to read their testimonies.

Friday we went to a musical fireside in Erfurt, because Sister Weber was on the program. And it was so nice to see all the Erfurters again! And Elder Norman made really really really good cinnamon rolls (that he then transported to the church in an emptied-out drawer lined with baking paper. Elders!). Sister Loch made sure to invite us, Mom, to come to dinner when we're in town!

I am loving the weather, I love Jena, and I love my tiny little branch. And I love you!

Bye!