Week Fifty-eight

This last week. I feel bad because this last week was really like a blur. I totally remember what we did, but just like all the appointments and work kind of blend and mesh into each other. And on Monday I try to think about how the last week was and it's always like........naja it was a good week haha. I guess that's a good
attitude to have about it but I really wish I could do a better job remember how I feel and impressions I get and everything! I'll try my best from now on to make these Emails interesting by adding some emotion haha. Let's see!

Last week:

Montag: Last Monday was good! P-Day is just always good! Well, emails was normal. After emailing, we went and got Döner with the sisters! Döner is great. I'm jealous that San Diego is now eating Döner as well. The Döner guys in Rostock love the missionaries haha. We will probably get Döner again today because it's so cheap. But I love Döner. And if the new store in SD is anything like it is in Germany, then I'll be spending some money there when I come home. After that, I accompanied Elder Collins and T as they got haircuts. I'm getting mine today. I couldn't convince myself last week to get one. But I need one. After that, we went shopping around Innenstadt. Elder Collins bought himself a fancy new backpack. They're called Deuters and they're super nice for missionary work. Kind of expensive though haha. I didn't end up buying anything for myself last week. But we went grocery shopping and P-Day was over. T is on school break, so he hangs out with us on P-Day, which is awesome. What would we do in Rostock without T? The world doesn't know. Well that night, we were supposed to go by on F, but he wasn't home, which was weird because we had made this appointment out. Oh well. I was pretty worried about F the whole week, especially because he's on baptismal date, and it's coming up pretty fast. I'm really impressed with his progress though, it's so awesome to see something changing for the better right in front of your eyes. It's amazing. But anyways, we went by on Andy instead, and had a cool lesson with him.

Diesntag: Tuesday was a great day. Our appointment with T fell out in the morning, which is rough, but we ended up having a couple of really cool appointments that day. We went by on the S family, just to see how things were going with them. Herr S was doing a little worse than last time, but he let us in and was super nice. We got to meet his daughter, and grand daughter haha. They were nice and gave us tea. We talked for a little and made out another appointment to come back. We ended up doing some door to door action haha and we actually found someone really cool! His name is M and he's a student in Rostock. He has a really interesting religion...he refers to himself as a heathen and worships idols. Like some intense stuff haha.  But he was super nice and actually spoke pretty good English. We gave him a Book of Mormon and he said he'd read it, so we made out an appointment to come back later this week. Cool stuff. We ended the night with Abendessen at institute.

Mittwoch: Wednesday was fun because we had Zone Training Meeting in Neubrandenburg. I'm not the biggest fan of NeuB but it's kind of cool haha. It was fun to see all the missionaries in the Zone again. I feel like the grandpa in this Zone haha because I've been in the Neubrandenburg zone the longest. Two other missionaries and I are the old folks. It was a good meeting. We were given a lot of new rules from President Kosak haha. But oh well. People complain a lot about the rules it's just kind of annoying to hear. Rules are rules right? The first law is obedience and without obedience, there are no other rules. Elder Pollard Thema of the week.

Elders Collins and Pollard

Well that lasted most of the day. The senior missionaries made us taco salad! It was bomb. And cookies. We made our way home and studied. Donnerstag: Thursday was kind of cool. We went in the morning with T to the Rathaus to figure out some Straßeausstellung (Street Display) stuff and to get Elder Collins registered with Rostock.

Rostock Rathaus (City Hall)

That took a while, but we accomplished everything we wanted to. T went with us on a joint teach to T, which ended up being pretty good.  She agreed to read in the Book of Mormon and to see if it really is scripture from God. That night we had Family Home Evening, which was fun.

Freitag: Friday morning was Gemiko with T haha. T is like essential to the work here. We ate lunch with Bruder S and had a cool little spiritual thought with him. The food was good. We did weekly planning that afternoon.We had one appointment that day with C G, an investigator that we haven't met with since like
before Christmas haha. He's doing well. It was a sick appointment and we read from the Book of Mormon with him. GOOD STUFF!

Samstag: Saturdays rock. We played Basketball in the afternoon. I love it haha I just like being able to exercise. I got to talk with one of the guys there too about meeting with us and he said he wanted to, we just have to call and figure that out with him! Finding through basketball. MONEY! We had Ping Pong that night with Bruder S and everybody, which is fun. I won. Just saying. We wanted to go up and meet with either Andy, or get in contact with Frank but they were both not home.

Sonntag: And Sunday! Sunday is super fun. I love going to church and seeing all the members and getting to kind of relax for a little and just listen. Listening is more fun than teaching sometimes haha. But F came to church, which is great. We had some good talks and we ate Lasagna with the sisters after. We studied and had an appointment with F later that night, which went pretty well.

So that was the week! It was cool to meet with the people we did. And the Training Meeting in Neubrandenburg was fun too. I think the best part of the week for me though was my personal study. I just realized something last week. I LOVE THE SCRIPTURES! My German Scriptures are like my babies. No joke. I can't stop reading because it's all so interesting. Like, there's so much interesting information in them.
This may just be a result of being a missionary for the past year, but I love it. I can't pet them down.

That's crazy to hear about all the new missions being made around the world. I'm kind of glad that I came on my mission when I did. That I got out of the MTC before all the missionary craze haha. Maybe President Sabin is going to be a mission president. I'm excited to hear about the new presidency!  Don't forget to tell me. It's fun to hear about who's going on missions to! Petey Croft! Going to Denver haha that's cool.

So this Döner thing! Haha I need to know some information...Is the Döner place run by Turkish people? Do they have a drink/soda there called Uludag? In a green can. If they do, buy it and drink it. And is the meat like a big ball that just rotates all day in front of a burner? If you can answer yes to all those questions, then it's legit. I'm gonna send some pics next week maybe of some Döner action here in Germany.

That's really great to hear about Matt and his promotion, and that the new Mr. and Mrs. Marine get to live in San Diego again. Ich freue mich darüber!

Because the package was sent to the office, I'll get it the next time we have a conference or something....so like on a month haha. Oh well!

I love you all so much! And miss you too! Have a great week!

Elder Pollard

Week Fifty-seven

Hello family and friends!

This past week was just weird haha. It's kind of hard to remember everything that we did, but that's why we have planners and stuff. We were just really busy. Like really really busy. But at the same time, we didn't get as much done as we wanted to. Kind of weird. We had a couple great lessons, but not much else. I don't know how to explain it. We did get to see President Kosak on Sunday though, which is always good. And I got a package from the Brockbanks, which was just amazing haha. Anyway, let me just tell you about the week.

Montag: Monday!!! Is always the best day of the week haha. A lot of crazy cool miracles can happen in the week, but I'm pretty sure that emails from home trumps that. Monday is the day that I remember that there's a life outside the mission haha but it's good. I love the week. And I love Monday. Last Monday was amazing though. It was the last Monday of the transfer, so we went to Ikea! It's tradition here. And I ate some delicious food. I also bought a nice pillow haha. Like ergonomic. It was kind of a spontaneous buy, but totally worth it. After that, we walked around and I thought I was going to have to get my shoes repaired (the sole was coming off) I just ended up buying super glue and that did the trick. The life of a missionary. That night we had an appointment with F, who's preparing to be baptized. T came as a join teach. It wasn't the best appointment though. Frank can get off topic very easily. And we're really concerned if he understands the baptismal covenant and everything. We're working with him though.

Dienstag: Tuesday was cool! We had to send Sister Linford off at bahnhof in the morning. It's weird when people come and go. Like Sister Linford was in Rostock with us for 3, and that's a long time haha. So we went to go say bye. After that, we went home and studied. Study is still going great by the way. We ate some lunch. We then had an appointment with Schweser S, who's like 89 haha. But she is so awesome and super nice and friendly. She had tea for us an other assorted baked goods. We shard a spiritual thought. After Schwester S, We went and had an appointment with L. This week was L's week haha. We had two awesome appointments with him. I really enjoy meeting with him. He's pretty normal. We got him a book of Mormon in Telugu, which is a crazy looking language. It's from India, and I don't think too many people speak it. But there are Books of Mormon in Telugu so hey haha. We basically had an appointment which was a set up appointment for a solid talk about the restoration. We did some doors after. Elder Collins and I have a new goal to be finding at least for an hour every day. Like no matter how crazy and hectic the day looks, we'll find some time for finding. We then went and ate at institute. We met the new sister there, Sister Prince. She seems really cool. I hope she likes Rostock. And then we studied more.

Mittwoch: Wednesday morning we had DCM, which was cool. We got to know the new district. There are only 2 new missionaries here. Not too crazy. More studying and lunch haha. We ended up walking a really long way to go by on a contact, but the didn't have time. We had two appointments fall out, and then we went with T to R L (a not so active member) and we set up an appointment to come back. We ate Döner that night because it was just a hard day.

Donnerstag: Thursday morning we went by on a referral, but nobody was home! Too bad. We had another great appointment with L. We talked about the restoration and Joseph Smith and a lot about the Book of Mormon. He said he'll read it, and that if he gets an answer that it's true, that he'd be baptized! Good stuff. We're excited to work more with L. We did more doors, and had FHE. We were supposed to have an appointment with Frank after, but he went home instead of staying around. Too bad.

Freitag: Friday morning we had Gemiko. We were supposed to eat with Bruder S, but he canceled, so T took us out to lunch, which was just super awesome. T is so great haha. We did weekly planning, and then went with T and taught R L. We then came home and did more planning, and then studied more.

Samstag: Saturday was OK. We studied and had lunch. We then went out for a little and dropped off a note to an investigator, and talked to some people. We came home and got ready for BBALL. Basketball is always fun. We then were supposed to help a member in the ward with something, but we got there on time and the activity or whatever started late, so we had to leave. Weird day.

Sonntag: Sunday was district conference in Neubrandenburg. So like instead of stake conference, we have district conference, because we're only a district. It was way good. The talks were sick. And that's when I got my package from the Brockbanks! Because president Kosak came and brought all the mail from the office. It was an awesome package. It was a long day though.

So the week was kind of cool, but still not much happening. We only met with F once, which is hard because he's preparing to be baptized. But you know, as long as you do your part and are working, that's the only way to measure success. The work is always fun though. And I know it's all true, which helps haha. It reminds me of the really over-quoted Joseph Smith saying: “No unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done.” So these bad weeks are just setting up better weeks! And in the end, the work is true and fun. So yea haha.

I just cannot believe that there is a Döner Kebab place in America!!! Wow haha I though it was like against health code regulations and stuff. Unfortunately, I can't see the pictures you sent me. But yea they had swords here too. Döner was actually first made in Berlin by a guy from Turkey. If the people running the Döner place there are Turkish, then you know it's good. I usually get Lamb, but sometimes chicken if I want to feel 'healthy'. If they put Red cabbage and tomato and salad and onion on it, then it's legit. And usually some sauce. I love Döner! And this news is great.

I'm so so so looking forward to my birthday package! Only a month late haha. It's OK though. I'm just super excited and grateful that I'm getting it.

That is so crazy that Danissa Dunn is going to Japan haha what the heck.

Well it was an OK week, but it goes on! Weiter, immer weiter. I'm happy to be here, and super grateful that I get emails from the best people on Earth!

I love and miss you!

Elder Pollard

Week Fifty-six

Mom I'm sick. And the worst part about being sick on your mission is that laying around all day and trying to get better just makes you feel horrible and gives you the worst conscience! I spelled that wrong probably. But report from the Mission Field: everyone in Rostock is sick. But you know, it's P-Day so that makes up for it! Elder Collinswas so sick that last week so we stayed inside a lot. And now I'm just starting to feel it! Oh well. Other news: Transfer Calls were on Friday! Elder Collins and I will be staying in Rostock for the next transfer together. So at least for the next 5 weeks! Goooood stuff!  The past week was good though! I'll just have to tell you about it.

Last week:

Montag: Last P-Day was pretty laid back. We did our normal Emails and stuff, then we met up with T. While we were paying for the internet though, this lady came up and started talking to me. We ended up having a pretty good conversation about God and stuff. She was pretty flustered and obviously upset about something haha but it was cool to talk to her and stuff. We ended up just giving her a card and telling her to call us. After that experience, T took us to this China Buffet haha. It was super cheap. And the food was meh. But China Buffet is always good haha. Just eat your face off. After that, we visited our favorite stores in Innenstadt and did some shopping. Fun times. We ended up playing Phase 10 with T at the church, until
we had to leave early for an appointment. We left at 4:30 to go to J and I at the Heim, because we were supposed to have an appointment with them. But when we got there, I wasn't feeling well so we just dropped off the book and said we'd come back later. It was a bummer though. We had to go then and shop for groceries. Fun P-Day!

Dienstag: I don't really remember much from the week, because I leftmy planner from last week at home. (New transfer, new planner) but Ido remember that we had an appointment with F that night. Wetalked to him about 3 Nephi 11 and specifically about baptism. We talked about Joseph Smith and the authority to baptize people. He came to the conclusion by himself that he has to be baptized again, and we made out a date! F is preparing to be baptized in March! And we're super stoked for him. It'll be a long process, but he can totally do it if he wants. We were really excited hat night and came back and told everyone about it.

Mittwoch: Wednesday morning we had district meeting. Elder Collins and I gave a workshop about how to better use the scriptures when we teach. Everyone said it was good, so good stuff. We then ate Burger Me, this restaurant, and it was really good haha. They had guacamole and it was the best I've had for over a year. Sad story.....but I enjoyed it. After that though, Elder Collins was attacked by the sickness. It was intense though, because he really showed it like inhis face that he was just straight up sick. So we went home and Elder Collins slept. I studied. I read a lot in the Bible and in Gospel Principles, but in German. My German has hit the point where I canread just about any text and only have to look up the occasional word, so reading is like the most fun thing on Earth. I just read German ALL DAY EVERY DAY. Es macht mir Spaß! I also cleaned a lot.

Donnerstag: Elder Collins was still dead from being hit by the sickness truck. So we stayed inside for a good chunk of the day. I studied and cleaned some more. In the afternoon however, we went to the church and did a roll play with T. Roll Plays are awkward, but it really helps with teaching and speaking German. After that, Elder Collins chilled and T helped me with my German. Learning more every day! Then we had a couple of appointments fall out - just a sign that Elder Collins had to sleep - and that night we had Family
Home Evening. F came to that, which was good. The food was good too. We had an appointment with him after. It went ok, we just talked about baptism and a little about the plan of salvation.

Freitag: Friday morning was GEMIKO, so we had that. We also had transfer calls too. President Kosak switched it up this time and instead of doing a conference call, every companionship was called
individually and told what was going down. Elder Collins and I are staying together. Sister Linford is being transferred though. Sadtimes. This means though that Rostock is my longest area so far! And I love it. I'll end up spending probably 6 months here, which is weird to think about. That night we met with Bruder S and talked about Preach My Gospel.

Samstag: Saturday was fun. We studied in the morning, played basketball, ate Döner, and played Ping-Pong. That was about it haha. BUT that night while we were studying, a miracle happened! We got this random number calling us so I talked and the first thing the person asked was if we speak English haha. And then they said 'I need to know how to get to your church'!!! Craziness! So this girl's name is T. She's from Ghana and has been looking for a church to go to on Sundays. She asked around and one of her friends gave her our card! Cool story!

Sonntag: So Sunday morning we went and picked T up from the train stop and brought her to church! It was cool. She's like 21 and speaks like 5 languages and knows the bible super well. She went to English class. Elder Collins and I taught Frank in the German investigator class, which went well. He seemed to have understood the first part of the plan of salvation pretty well. Sacrament Meeting went well. We had

Gemeinde Essen after church. So like break the fast-ish. After church, we went home and planned and then studied.

SO like the week was good. We didn't do so much work because of sicknesses and what not but it was still a great week for our investigators. It went by so fast. This whole last transfer went bysuper fast. And now I'm on the downhill with my transfers. Today isthe start of my 9th of 16 transfers in Germany, so my time is halfup.Crazy to think about! I have so much that I still want to do and learn! The time is really going by too fast. OH WELL. I love being a missionary.

It's good to hear that these sicknesses don't hang around forever, but kind of sucky that Emily is sick now. It's cool that Emily and Matt are living in San Diego again. DAS GEFÄLLT MIR. I could send a picture of the talking watch. It's not to flashy. It's actually meant for old people who can't see. But I like it. Her name is Lucy and she talks to me every hour. Naja.

This last week I literally read my brains out. I read all of Genesis and am into Exodus. We're also reading the Book of Mormon together as a mission and we're into Alma. That along with Gospel Principles is just a lot of studying! But I like it. The Bible is brutal. Gooood times.

I love being out here! Thanks for all the support and for emailing me every week! It's such a big blessing in my life.

I love you all and pray for you all the time! Have a great week family!

Elder Pollard

Week Fifty-five

Greetings from the Great North of Germany

It is still cold here. STILL COLD. But it got way warmer. Like it doesn't snow anymore. But it's around 40 degrees fahrenheit. So it's just cold and wet. I'd personally rather have it be a little colder and snowing. But oh well haha. This last week went by super super fast! Like wow. I think about how long I've been a missionary and how long I've been in Germany and it seems like no time at all. I look ahead at the year I have in front of me and it sounds like I have forever haha. But I know I don't and soon enough I'll be sitting and thinking...well where on earth did my mission go?? Haha I can only imagine that I'll be a little upset when President Kosak transfers me to the San Diego, CA mission.

Let me tell you about the last week of Elder Pollard's life:

Montag: Last P-Day was cool. I bought a new watch. It's classy. It's actually really cheap and tacky haha. It's nice though. We just walked around Innenstadt checking out the stores again. We ate at Pizza Hut which was a bad idea haha. We did grocery shopping and I wrote letters and stuff. Good solid P-day. After P-day, we had to hang around the apartment so Bruder E could come over and install something in the bathroom that will let a new washing machine come in! Exciting stuff! After that, we went up to F and had an appointment. It was basically a first about the  restoration and Joseph Smith and all. It was OK haha. It was a good Monday though.

Dienstag: Tuesday was fun. In the morning, we had this 'appointment' with an elderly couple named S. The first hour was us just watching over the man because he just got back from the hospital. But he was super nice and showed us pictures and stuff. Then the lady came home from tai chi...and he ate. We talked about the Book of Mormon and stuff, because they kept saying that they had met with missionaries before. It was a good discussion. After that, we met the Schwerin Elders at Bahnhof and then I was on tausch or exchanges with Elder Barr. He's cool. We went home and ate. Then we had an appointment at the church with Schwester B. We were helping T home teach because he doesn't have a partner. So we chilled and had a good discussion. After that we went to the Außländer Heim and talked with B, this teenage kid from the middle east somewhere. He didn't speak super good English or German haha. But we made out on appointment. That night we had Institute and ate delicious food.

Mittwoch: Wednesday morning was District Meeting, so we went and it was good. As part of an activity, Elder McKean and I rode up to Bruder S's and taught him a short lesson and asked for feedback about how we could improve teaching. It was cool. We then came back and now I was Tausch with Elder Riesen haha. So I spent all of Wednesday with him, which is cool because he's my mission 'brother'. Elder Thorley trained both him and me. He's way cool and from Switzerland. I love the guy. We ate lunch and then passed out invitations to Institute. Then we had another lesson with F. We watched the Restoration and he loved it haha. It was a rocking lesson! After that, we went home and studied.

Donnerstag: Thursday was boring. We had to ride a train all the way to Neubrandenburg to tausch back, and then a train all the way back. It basically took all day. When we got back we studied, and then went to Family Home Evening. We were supposed to have a lesson after, but it fell out.

Freitag: Friday morning we had a conference call with President Kosak and all the trainers and new missionaries. It was cool and lasted about an hour. It really helped Elder Collins and me to figure out what we need to improve in our companionship and how we can work better together. After that, we had a little Gemiko with T. We went back and studied for a little bit and then ate lunch with Brother G! He took us to this really authentic German restaurant. I ate spare ribs and Knödel and Rotkohl. SO GOOD oh my gosh. After that, we went to the Außländer Heim to teach B. T came with. He had a good lesson and after that, met up with N and taught him as well. We were going to have a lesson with J there too, but he didn't have time. It's cool though because he introduced us to his friend who just got out of the hospital and we talked to him for a little bit and made out an appointment to bring him a Book of Mormon. Good stuff! After that we had an eating appointment with T and his friend L! It was way fun. We made lasagna and ate ice cream after. The point was to share a spiritual though and see if L would have any interest in learning more. We have to talk with T and see if we need to take more steps and what not. But it was way fun.

Samstag: Saturdays in Rostock rock! We got up and studied/ate lunch for the morning. Then we went to basketball and played. It was really fun this week. We're trying to work with a couple people there, but they always have something going on or can't meet so that's hard. After, we went to Tisch Tennis and hung out with Bruder S haha. D came too. We taught him after Tisch Tennis and it was a solid lesson. We watched the restoration with him. We need to invite him to make bigger steps and meet more regularly though. Good day.

Sonntag: Sundays are always good too. We were supposed to pick up J in the morning to take him to church, but he never showed up haha I don't know why he missed his train or something. But F came to church and we taught him the first hour. We had a good fast and testimony meeting, and F even bore his testimony!!! It was solid and a good step for him. He's so nice. The ward likes him too. After church, the sister and we ate at Bruder S's. There was Kassler, Potatoes, and Saurkraut. GOOOOOD oh my gosh so good. I'm so thankful fro Bruder S! And his wife who cook the food always haha. After that, we came home and had a way solid planning session for the week and then studied.

The week was good. We taught a lot of lessons. It went by really fast probably because of the two exchanges we had this week. I can't believe that we're starting the 6th week of this transfer! Time flies! I've officially been in Rostock the longest out of all of my cities, and I love it. The people here in Rostock are special and I'm really happy that I've been allowed to meet them. F made a lot of progress this week, and now we're going to see if focusing on baptism will be good. I know this work is true! I love doing it! I don't know why either haha but I get up every morning and put on a shirt and tie and I just love it.

Well it's good news that mom is feeling better! How is Christian doing? And I hope everyone else's health is good as well. I really wish I could've been there to help Emily and Matt move home! That sounds like it was a lot of fun. And the phone story is great too haha Do you know what kind of phone it is? I miss phones....

I've been waiting for my birthday package! WAITING! Every day I open the post box and the emptiness tears my heart open....not really haha. But I am excited to get it! Elder Collins is doing well too. I think he's getting into the grove about how things actually work. And like what's effective and worthwhile and how things work specifically in the Germany Berlin Mission. I love training, it's way fun! We get along for the most part. When we don't it's just me getting annoyed and letting my 'Inner Pig Dog' (as the Germans say) come out. I always feel bad. But we get along through food. We like cooking and eating. Fun stuff.

Well, thanks a lot for the emails family! You know I love reading these things on Monday! It's the highlight of the week! I hope that everything is going well at home. Love each other! I pray for you everyday!
 

Love,

Elder Pollard

Week Fifty-four

Hello!

Hello hello hello everybody.

This last week was kind of cool. We actually didn't have the BEST week if you looked at the numbers. We had a lot of appointments fall out, which was rough, but in retrospect, I think it was a good week. Especially for my study, and the relationship that Elder Collins and I have. Before I talk about the week, I just need to let you know how thankful I am for T. The ward mission leader/2nd Councilor here in Rostock is awesome. He is so integrated into the work here, and really cares. Like the perfect help that missionaries could ask for. And I don't know why it took me this long to figure out, but I just figured something out in my head this week. I am just super stoked to be teaching and finding and just being a missionary this week haha. I love it, and I'm looking forward to this next week. The week we just had has been preparing me for this somehow. NAJA!

This was my last week:

Montag: Last Monday was wonderful haha. It was my Birthday celebration day! We went to Karls Erlebnis Dorf again - the big strawberry farm turned mini Disneyland - and it was just way cool. We emailed early in the morning so we could go there. I got a couple of little presents. T gave me a calendar with little trivia facts in German for every day of the year. I love that thing haha. We got there and went to the ice sculptures first. This crazy room filled with ice sculptures all in this Alice in Wonderland theme. It was pretty cool. Kind of weird haha and trippy but the ice sculptures were legit. I'll send some pics. After that we ate. OH MY GOSH THE FOOD AT KARLS IS HEAVENLY. I had Kohlroulade, Jägerschnitzel, Sauerkraut, Gemüse, and just straight up delicious German Food. I loved it. After that, we went shopping around and saw all the cool things to see there. After we got home, I got my haircut, because my hair was REALLY long haha. I don't know how I let it get so long, but like it was bad. I'm so happy that I got it cut before President interviews. And we went grocery shopping. That night, we had an appointment with an investigator named L. We had a good lesson, he's really nice, but doesn't really want to 'investigate' anything because he thinks he's got it all figured out. We're giving him a little time.

Dienstag: Tuesday was rough. We had 2 solid appointments, and 4 or 5 potential appointments....and they all fell out. We didn't teach anything that day, which always makes days long and difficult, but we got some good work down. We ended up making invitations for the institute here and printing them and cutting them out. We have this goal with the ward to really pump the institute attendance up. Hopefully we could find some people who would want to meet with us through that. We had institute, which is always good! I always learn so much from it. Sister Wunderli made spare ribs and homemade BBQ sauce for the meal, which was just amazing haha.

Mittwoch: Wednesday was a good day. We got up early to ride to Greifswald and have President Interviews. We got to hear some solid workshops and what not from the leaders and from President. I also had a really good interview with President Kosak. It was a little strange though. It was like 15 minutes of him being nice to me haha. But I did promise him to speak more German during the day. He said it shouldn't be a problem, and told me that I have really good German, so that was really motivating. But at the same time, I realize how much I wouldn't be able to say exactly the way I wanted to in English, so I've made a big push on my language study again. After we got home that night, we had a lesson with the K family! And Sister Frömling came as a joint teach! It was so awesome and it was such a blessing that Sister Frömling came, because she was able to clear up a lot of things. It was just a testimony builder to me that the best type of missionary work is when we work together with the members to accomplish our goals. It was a huge lesson.

Donnerstag: Thursday was also kind of disappointing because of appointments falling out. Even our member appointment fell out haha. We had two other appointments fall out too. But we ended up using the time wisely and making more institute invitations. Also, T went with us the the Ausländerheim to find a less active member named N. We got there and actually found him! Haha I had never meet him but I had hear a lot about him. It was cool to meet him and share a little lesson with him. After that, we went back and had FHE, which Elder Collins and I taught. We taught this cool little thought about 'the adventure of prayer' haha. It was ok.

Freitag: Friday was cool! We studied, had Gemiko in the morning, studied some more, and went to Bruder S's to eat lunch. They made potatoes, rotkohl, and some sort of meat haha. I asked and they just said 'beef' but it was really good, so I didn't ask again. I love Bruder S. and his wife. They take care of us so much, and are always so friendly and willing to do stuff! It's great. I'm happy that Bruder S. likes us. We helped him carry stuff to the church after we ate. We did weekly planning, which is always fun, and then we had a ward activity! Which was game night. It was really fun and I got to know some members better. After game night, we finished weekly planning and studied more.

Samstag: Saturdays are always fun. We studied a lot in the morning, ate some delicious home made Chinese food, and Played basketball. I did well. Beasting on the Germans. We were going to pick up J. for Tisch-Tennis after, but he canceled. So we just played Tisch-Tennis´wih D, and all the other people who came. It ended up a tie between Bruder S and me. Bruder S is almost 70, but he's a beast ping pong player. We wanted to have an appointment with D after, but he was sick and wanted to go home.

Sonntag: Sunday was way cool too. We had church in the morning. J didn't end up coming, but the K's came, and so did F, which was really good. Church was fun. I had to translate for the sisters African investigators in sacrament meeting. That's always just draining haha. After church we ate with the E's. The made rice and curry chicken stuff which was just delicious. SO GOOD oh my gosh. After church, we passed out institute invitations, and had a lesson in the student dorm while we were doing that. We did more doors and studied a lot that night. GOOD DAY!

My study has been on fire! I love studying. There's just so much to learn! I really regret not reading more when I was at home. But right now, we're reading the BoM as a mission. We're in Mosiah right now. I'm also reading the Old testament in my free time, gospel principles in German for German study, and just reading whenever I'm bored. I like the Joseph Smith teachings of the presidents of the church. Joseph Smith was insane haha. But I'm really digging scripture study. When I get home, we HAVE to study as a family! That would be so sick! It's happening.

I'm sorry to hear that people are still sick at home! I'm just getting over this hidden sickness that was just wearing me out all the time. I feel a lot better and I have a lot more energy. But I hope everyone at home gets better soon! I'm praying for you! I'm looking forward to getting my birthday stuff! I miss my friends a lot! It's cool to hear about how you see them all the time! I'm jealous. And I should stay here in Rostock for another 7 weeks i think. I'm definitely staying for the next 2 weeks, but I have a pretty good feeling that I'll be staying for at least 7. So send stuff to Rostock haha. 

 

Thanks for all the emails and support!

I'm really praying for all of you and hope everything is going well!

Love, Elder Pollard

P.S. Sister Fallentine sent me a picture of mom and the Mitt Romney/Elder Pollard Frankenstein cut-out! It's really funny!