Week Forty

NAH!?

Nah is just something Germans say. It's like how American teenagers say 'like' or 'um'. so NAH!? Wie geht es euch?! Ganz gut, ich hoffe. My last week in Rostock was way cool. Ups and downs and sports and investigators. Just everything to expect on a normal mission. But I am just loving it. I'm eating every day up. And I am so tired lately! Which is a good thing. Well, let me just tell you about my second week in Rostock.

Montag: Last Monday was the first P-Day in Rostock. We woke up, and did some cleaning around the apartment. I find it hard to study on P-Day, because I'm just so excited to email and to check cool stuff out and everything. So we clean. After emailing, we went shopping for groceries. We shop at the 'Netto', which has earned the nickname in the mission as the 'ghetto'. Not too ghetto though, I like it. It's super cheap. After shopping, we met up with the Greifswald Elders. They came to check out Rostock and to do some shopping. Our Innenstadt is really big and has a bunch of stores. I looked for new shoes, because mine are totally broken. Apparently there's some deal at this huge German shoe store chain, that if you by these 20 euro shoes, you can turn them in whenever they break. Idk, but all the shoes there  were horribly ugly. I also checked out H&M and C&A for some sweaters. It's getting cold. I only ended up buying one thing. At 'TKMAX' (Just like T J MAX, but with a K instead...idk) Elder Stanley and I found matching Nike shirts. SWAG! They're sick.

A t-shirt that says "Berlin"

 We also checked out this gnarly old church. I didn't take any pictures. Next time. It was a good P-Day. After that, we meet with this kind of 'ewig investigator' (eternal investigator) named M. We didn't get through to him really, but it was good to get to know him. He's super shy but still comes to a lot of the activities (because of a sister in the ward). And after that lesson, we had FHE! It was fun. Elder Stanley and I taught a lesson on the gospel of Christ. Then we ate good food. Rice and soup of some sort.

Dienstag: Tuesday, we were in Berlin again for 'Zone Training' That was great, because Elder Stanley and I had to give a thema (lesson/workshop) on 'How to master German'. The best part was that I forgot to copy my notes down into my little thema book, so I just had to wing it from memory. People said it was pretty good haha. It was way cool to be with the zone, but riding all the way to Berlin again just wasn't worth it. We got to hang out in Berlin Hauptbahnhof again (my favorite place) so we ate pizza hut. Then the ride back basically took all day.

Mittwoch: Wednesday was supposed to be packed, but only about half of our stuff went through. After study, we went by on a coupe of contacts/referrals, but one is never home, and the other has moved away. So we walked around a lot. Then we came home and ate lunch. I don't remember what we ate, so it couldn't have been that good. Or bad. Elder Stanley and I have been tackling the area book and cell phone and just calling EVERYBODY haha. It's been working really well. We've come in contact with maybe ten people who have set out appointments with us, so bonus. And a good part of area book work, is that the GML (Ward mission leader) knows the people already. Which is cool. After that, we went by on this guy named L. He's from southern India, and is just studying in Rostock. We had a cool lesson with him. He speaks English and Telugu...whatever that is. He said some crazy long prayer in Telugu to start the lesson off.
Unfortunately, L is going back to India for a month and a half, so that was the last time we'll see him before he comes back. Oh well. After him, we went by on a Brother in the ward. He's not less active,
but visits from the missionaries help a lot. We talked about prayer. I shared how Nephi prayed for strength when his brothers tied him up. Instead of asking God to take him out of the situation, he asked God for the strength to help himself. Cool stuff. After that, we had Institute. D showed up! Which was awesome. Remember D from last week? He's cool. It went well.

Donnerstag: Thursday was cool. After studying, we had an appointment with P, the psychiatrist. We went to his office and got to know and taught a good lesson. The guy is super cool, and friendly. We got to know each other really well, and gave him the BOM and committed him to read and pray. After that, we went home and ate. The apartment in Rostock has seen better days. Missionaries just haven't been taking care of it. So Elder Stanley and I clean all the time. We were then supposed to have a lesson with someone named Enoch, but that fell through. We did a lot of doors and OYMs (open your mouth, basically street contacting), but didn't find anyone. That night, we met with the sisters to plan for Zone finding.

Freitag: Friday was Zone finding.

District Greifswald

Basically everyone in the zone (14 missionaries) came to Rostock and we found all day. Before that, we had Gemiko (the meeting with the ward mission leader) So everyone came and we split up throughout the city. It was good, and we got like 3 appointments out of it, and taught a bunch of good lessons. A family from the ward ran us down and bought us ice cream too. Delicious. After Finding, We went home and studied.

Samstag: Saturday! was cool. In the morning, we went to Bruder A's house to help him out and do some service. We ended up stacking a BUNCH of fire wood. He had us do it in some weird way...like in a big circle.

Before....

and after...

After that, we hurried home and went and played basketball with a bunch of German and Chinese guys! It was so fun! And good exercise. Germans are not athletic. At all. The average German male is just so nonathletic and uncoordinated. It's sad. We dominated. After that, we rushed home, showered, changed, and went to PING PONG! Ping Pong is a big deal. Bruder S is ridiculously good too. And he's like 70. Just super intense. After Ping Pong we set up the church for Gemeinde Essen. Break the fast.

Sonntag: Sunday was fun. I met the ward, which was awesome. Also, a random kid showed up to church! Which is just way cool. His name is Marcel, and he speaks 10 different languages. He's 19, and '...just looking for the right church' in his own words. GOLDEN INVESTIGATOR!  Elder Stanley and I are looking forward to teaching him and getting to know him. He was super friendly too, and stayed for break the fast. We had to have fast Sunday on the 3rd week, because the first week was conference, and President Monson was here last week. It was awesome. After church, both of our lessons fell out, which sucks, but we were blessed, and able to make more calls and make out some appointments. Also, some British guy just stopped us randomly and asked if we wanted to play basketball on Wednesday this week. Of course we do.

That was the week! And it was good. Elder Stanley and I get along really well. We've having fun too. I'm just super happy and blessed to be in a big city with a hard working companion. We're learning a lot and enjoying everything. Being a missionary rocks.

FAMILY. I am doing so well. Don't even worry about me! Haha I'm loving it. Rostock is definitely looking and feeling like fall. The leaves are just everywhere on the ground and it's getting super cold. I'm glad you like the Bear picture. The bears really are everywhere and they're always painted differently. It's kind of cool. I'll remember to take pictures of them whenever I see them.

As for Christmas presents, I really don't know haha. Maybe peanut butter, or American candy. I can like get everything else here. I still have 50 euro of personal money. I might have to spend a big chunk of it on new shoes, because mine are just toast. That would be really cool if Emily and Matt could move back to SD. Everyone should live there.

So Elder Stanley and I found this NASTY old deep fryer in the apartment, and we've been cleaning it for the past week haha. It's so hard to clean. The last missionary to use it literally did not clean it at all before stashing it under the sink. Who knows how long it's been under there. Just getting nasty. We plan on using it though! Hopefully I can make some chicken strips soon. I love it.

I love everything about Rostock. Elder Stanley is way cool, the ward  is small, but awesome, and the weather is cold. I can tell that I am really going to enjoy my time here. Hopefully I stay for a long time.
Seeing President Monson was way cool. He talked about 'eyes that see, ears the hear, and hearts that feel' in regards to bringing less active members back to church. He talked a lot about his times in Germany, and shared a lot a stories about helping bring members back to church. He also talked about 4 L's. I think the were Listen Learn Labor and Love. Again, in regards to bringing less actives back. It was a cool conference. It was hard to focus, because he would talk in English, and then the German translator would talk, so at times I found myself listening and trying to understand the German more than the English.

Thanks for the Emails! I am doing really well.  I love you all, and pray for you every night.

Love,
Elder Pollard