Week Sixty-six

Elder Pollard is leaving Rostock. Leaving behind the blood, sweat and tears that stain the streets of this great city! After 5 transfers...6 months of walking around the streets of the Hansa City Rostock, I am being transferred to a place called Dellingsdorf.

The next destination...

I have no idea what this place is like, and basically everyone I ask also has no idea. Haha I'm not sure if that's a good sign. But we'll see! I'll just have to try my hardest to make it a well known place. It is apparently really close to Hamburg, and I'll actually have a chunk of Hamburg in my area. So it's like Dellingsdorf/Hamburg/Ahrensburg. That's my new area haha. I just need to say that I would probably stay in Rostock a lot longer if I had the choice, but I don't. It is so incredibly comforting knowing that wherever I am and whoever I serve with is really the will of God. Facing hard times or maybe slow work can just be put to the side, but I know I'm supposed to be working in Dellingsdorf with Elder Lyken (spelling?). I'm super excited!

Let me just tell you about my last week:

Montag: Last Monday, seems like a long time ago haha. I remember that T took us to this Italian restaurant, which was really good. I had pasta. We also kind of milled about and went shopping and enjoyed resting. I wrote a letter, too. We actually just kind of relaxed and hung out at the church. After P-Day was over, we rode to Neubukow with T and helped him with his English class. It was a really good way to help out and to meet knew people and introduce them to the church. We were pretending like we couldn't speak German at all until the end haha it was great. They were so surprised. It was so hard not laughing at the jokes in German or like responding in any way to the German. It was just really fun!

Diesntag: Tuesday was a great day! Oh my goodness haha probably one of the better days since coming here in October. We started by eating with F and Frau K. They made us Roulade, Rotkohl, and Klöse. It was pretty good! I was just grateful that they made us food, because I know that they both can't be throwing money around. It was cool though. We went after that and had an appointment with M R. Also great! We talked about reading in the scriptures again, because it's been a while since he's been active at all. We gave this plan and told him that we'll be reading with him as well. He got kind of excited haha so hopefully we'll be helping him through that. After that appointment, we met with the P's haha. Two members from India! There names are M K and A K. They're not related though. They are so cool. We shared a good thought and they just bore testimony about how the Gospel gets them through hard times. It was so cool. After that, we went and met with T! We brought Sister Holbrook and it was just a good appointment. T has been really sick lately. But we had a good lesson, talked about baptism (she's being baptized on the 11th of May) and gave her a blessing. It was a really cool opportunity. After that, we went and ate at institute.

Mittwoch: Wednesday was pretty cool. We had an appointment with A in the Ausländer Heim. He basically lives in this place like a really bad student dorm. It's where they put people who don't have their papers for Germany yet. They can't work and they basically sit around all day and wait for something to happen. It's really sad I really don't like those places too much. I couldn't imagine not knowing what's going to happen with me haha. It would be scary. But we had a good lessons about reading in the Book of Mormon. After that, we had to come home and I caught a train to Neubrandenburg. We went on splits with the Zone Leaders. We had to go to the meeting on Thursday.

Donnerstag: Thursday was good. We were in Berlin for the leadership meeting, which was awesome! It was good to see like everyone I know and it was even better to listen to the workshops and everything. I took a lot of notes and learned a lot. We also got Subway. For free. That's just a blessing. We had to wake up at 5 in the morning, and we got home to Rostock at about 11 haha. It was a long day with a lot of sitting. Uncle Craig sent me a package! Oh my it was so exciting! It had a bunch of American candy in it haha. Such a blessing haha.

Freitag: Friday was great. We had a really good lesson with R L. We talked about reading in the Book of Mormon with her, too. It was super cool, because she got excited to read with us! Also, on Sunday when I saw her again, she said she's been reading. That's like amazing haha. It was so cool. And then we met with Schwester S and the G's. That was also a great appointment. That night, we met with B and took a tour of his house and all his taxidermed animals. Kind of creepy. But way fun.

Samstag: Saturday morning was the call! We also played basketball, and I got to say bye to all of them. That night was a miracle. We met with F and had the best appointment we've ever had with him. We went over the baptismal interview questions and he basically passed. He's made so much progress and he gives us the credit, even though he needs to give himself and God all the credit. He's just very thankful and that helps haha. It was great to see that.

Sonntag: Sunday was kind of boring. We went to church and watched general conference, then we went and gave Bruder S the sacrament at his house because he was sick. We came home and did weekly planning, cleaned and ate, and studied/packed.

So the last week just went by really fast. I can say that I just don't want to leave Rostock at all haha, but it has to happen.

Say goodbye to Rostock...

I am looking forward to Dellingsdorf though. Especially because we work in Hamburg kind of. Hamburg is like the second biggest city in Germany. It's just huge and I've never been there. So things will be ok.

I was really impressed this last week from what I read in the Bible 1 Corinthians 13. It's about love! Definitely something I need to work on. But it basically talks about how we really can't do any of God's work if we don't have love for the people we're serving. I would suggest that you all read it.

I love you all so much! I'm moving on to another city, but not quite moving on back to San Diego. We'll just have to wait, because I have so much more to learn and so much more work to do. Wish me luck! Thanks for all your support and love.

Have a great week.

Elder Pollard

Week Sixty-five

Well, to start everything off, I have to mention that I forgot my planner in the apartment. So this email might just be weak. So sorry really I'm kicking myself. But It's OK. I'll try to remember everything that happened this past week. It shouldn't be too hard! This week did go by kind of slow. Elder Collins and I both realized it. I think it's only because transfers are coming up soon! This Saturday morning will be transfer calls. It's exciting to think about, but it's also rough. Totally bittersweet. I've been in Rostock for 5 transfers! That's like a third of my time in Germany. And it's going to be hard to say bye. Whether that happens next week, in 7 weeks, or in 13 weeks. It's just gonna be rough! Plus traveling is really just a pain in Germany. Suitcases on the train is just really annoying. Well anyways, let me try my best to remember what I did last week.

Montag: Last Monday was actually great. T took us to the zoo!

 

 

 

He knows that I just love zoos haha. That's definitely something that has come out since coming on a mission. Animals are fascinating. And zoos just rock. I can't compare the Rostock Zoo to the San Diego Zoo, but it's still way big and cool. Right after emailing, we went there. We got to see some interesting animals. Like cheetahs. They make super weird noises. Kind of like birds. And meercats are great. I really like the monkeys though. There's this intense exhibit called 'darwineum' which is about evolution and stuff. The monkeys are the only cool part. Elder Collins unfortunately left his planner in the zoo on accident...the monkeys now know all our plans. After the zoo, we went and got some Döner. Pretty good stuff. We shopped for the week, and that was it! Monday night, we met with F in his apartment. We read in the Book of Mormon with him. He has been taught everything, and really wants to be baptized. He knows that the Book of Mormon is true and everything. We're working with him and trying to help him stop smoking, so he can keep the Word of Wisdom and be baptized. He's made some great progress! We pray that he can be baptized when the time is right for him.

Dienstag: I don't remember too much about Tuesday...I know that we were waiting to have an appointment with C M, who found the church by himself, but he showed up late because he had been in the hospital. Haha like a crazy story! But he was released from the hospital and came to institute! Good stuff haha. C is awesome. He investigated everything himself, and then came to us and said he knows it's all right. So we're working with him. He should be baptized on the 11th of May! Coming up soon. I don't know if I'll be here for that though...

Mittowch: Wednesday was a good day. We had district meeting in the morning, which went pretty well. We had a lot of time and it was very relaxed and just nice to talk. We had district Ratteil, which is like the time we talk about our investigators and how the work is going and everything, and it was just way good. We're doing our best to help each other out. The Schwerin elders and we are pretty stoked on the work. After district meeting, we ate some leftover deliciousness from institute. Like this apple pie thing that sister Holbrook made. Prima. After that, the Schwerin elders helped us to help F. We went and helped him take out parts of his old kitchen and put in new ones. It went surprisingly really well haha. We replaced a cupboard and a coat rack. I hope they stay up though. It felt way good to just do some work and to help F. We ate Döner, and went home and got dressed and all rode the train to Neubukow with T. It was actually pretty hot that day, I remember. Which is a great sign. We got off and the Schwerin elders kept riding. We helped T teach his English class, which was way fun. And then we met with their family and had a spiritual thought. It was an overall good day.

Donnerstag: Thursday, again is hard to remember. We've been trying to take care of spring cleaning off and on, so I remember doing that. I also remember eating some good food at home. We make excellent food. We rode the bus out to Bad Doberan and met with A and O at the Heim there.



We had to take over teaching them for the time that the sisters are gone out of Rostock. We set out a date to be baptized with Anthony for the 25th of May! I also remember walking a lot and going by on a lot of older investigators. We have this list that we're whittling down. It's going well. We also had Family Home Evening that night, which went well.

Freitag: Friday morning was Gemiko. After that, we ate some food with Sister Holbrook. The leftovers from FHE. We taught C M that day too. D, a new member, was there in the lesson. It went really well! We talked about the apostasy and restoration. And that's when we set out his date to be baptized on the 11th of May. Miracles are happening in Rostock, and we are helping people come closer to Christ! After that appointment, we had a ward cleaning in the church. I vacuumed a lot. Then we went on splits. The Zone Leaders came up from Neubrandenburg and picked me up and I went back with Elder Wolfley. We got back pretty late, just in time for us to make a chalk drawing of a part of the plan of salvation. That was way fun.

Samstag: I woke up in Neubrandenburg haha. Got some good study in. We went and held a class with members on how to invite friends to church and stuff which went well. Came home, ate some lunch, and went out again and had another good lesson with members with a focus on inviting others to church. It went well. We did a lot of doors in a nice neighborhood, which was super fun. We didn't find anybody, but it was good to be outside and talking to people. We also went by on a lot of contacts for them. I got to practice my Russian skills with a lady. We had a very short conversation with consisted of, 'How are you? Good, How are you? Good, Book of Mormon?' Haha it was great. We then went to Bahnhof and greeted Elder Collins and Elder Hansen. Then Elder Collins and I bought Döner and rode home.

Sonntag: Sunday was a very good day. We had three investigators come to church! That was wonderful. T also gave a great talk about forgiveness, which was just uplifting and great haha. We ate with Schwester G in the church right after, which was pretty good. After all this, we went home and realized that we had a referral in our mailbox haha. So we went by on this guy, but he had no interest. We came home, had a great planning session for the week, studied, and das war's!

The week was well. This week should be great haha. I'm looking forward to doing some good work this week. This could potentially be the last week in Rostock. We'll say probably actually haha. I've been here a long time. There is nobody in the whole zone that is still here when I got here, which is crazy. That makes me the King of Mecklenburg. I feel old! Ending my 10th transfer in Germany. I only have 6 left...I wonder if the time has flown by for everyone else. I still remember going into the MTC. I remember that day crystal clear! And now, 15 months later. It's a great thing. I love being a missionary.

I'm so jealous to hear about the weather in San Diego! Even though the weather is getting better here (it's pretty sunny and warmer now), it just doesn't compare! It's great to hear the Kenny is doing well in Boise. Missionaries rock.

Other then that, everything really is going swell. We'll be closing the books on this transfer at the end of this week, and starting a new one. Exciting times family! To be honest, I really do think I will be transferred next week. But I'll be stoked if I can stay!

I had some way good studying opportunities, and heard a lot of good talks and such last week. I'm reading through the bible right now. I'm in 2nd Samuel. I love the Bible so much. I just feel like there's so much to learn. And I love learning. We totally have a lot to learn from the lives of the people written about in the scriptures. Just think about the lives of Saul and David, and how different they were, but how they made similar mistakes. It's good to know that everyone makes mistakes, even those in high power and of a high knowledge and learning. But it's even better to know that we can be forgiven of these mistakes. Tobias shared a really great story in his talk about a man. This man had somehow and at sometime done something really bad. It got him in prison for like 10 to 15 years. It was so bad, that he stopped communicating with his family out of shame. For around 15 years he sat in prison with nothing, only the thoughts of regret and terrible sadness. But he payed his time and was going to be released. He sent a letter to his family that said he was coming home. He added that the family should tie a ribbon to a tree at the train station that he would get off to go home, only if they would take him back and forgive him. If he saw no ribbon, he would just keep riding the train and know. As he approached the train station however, he noticed not only one ribbon on the tree, but hundreds! Of course the family wanted him back! The feeling of being forgiven is one of the greatest we can experience. And we really need to work hard to forgive those who deserve to be forgiven. Sharing this feeling is helping these people.

Hopefully I can be forgiven of a lot of things haha I sure have done my share of dumb things in my life. I know that our Heavenly Father forgives us when we repent and try to make things right. And I'm so grateful for that.

The work is going pretty well in Rostock. To be honest, I feel like I'm leaving soon. I feel like I set this area up to explode with success and baptisms, but now I'm leaving before it all happens!! Hopefully I'll stay and get to see some reward for my efforts haha. We do teach a lot. A lot of people actually find us in Rostock. It's a huge blessing haha. we've had 4 people 'find' us, and they all had baptismal dates at one point. None are baptized yet for various reasons, but they were prepared enough to find the truth. It's always their decision in the end if they want to accept the truth or not. But finding people hasn't been the biggest problem. It's still hard though. Our health is doing well this week. It's on an upswing haha.

I really like that subject about trial and hard times. I actually just gave a workshop about that in district meeting, and related it back to obedience, and how obedience is always the key to success and getting through hard times. It went something like this:

We made a list of things that make us happy as missionaries. The list included: good health, knowing that our families are doing well, nice people, baptisms, seeing success, good weather, good friends on the mission, and so on.

The thing is, can we still be happy people if one or all of these things are missing? Well of course. D&C 121:1 is Joseph Smith in Liberty Prison. He asks God where he is..because he totally felt  alone. He had friends in the prison with him, but the times were hard. He didn't really have those things on that list haha. But the advice that God give him is cool. 'My son, peach be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment;'

This life, these hard times are incredibly temporary. It's hard to think that way always though! 2 Nephi 2:27 basically lays out this it's our choice if we are going to happy. And the 25th verse kind of tells us that it is super possible to be happy!

The last point is in Joshua. 'Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest.' Talking about being obedient is the key! Not turning from the Right or Left, being obedient, is the key to 'prospering'.

That's a very short version of it all haha

I love you all! Have a great week!

Elder Pollard

Week Sixty-four

Moin.

Oh man! Last week was kind of long. Not in a bad way though. We were just really busy and we had to travel a lot. Usually being busy means that time goes by fast, but traveling in trains just slows down the whole week. Not cool, but this last week was still fun. We got to have a zone training meeting, and I was able to go on splits with the Schwerin elders. It's good to work in other areas for short periods of time. It's fun, and a good way to switch it up and try some new things. I enjoy it haha. We also ate a lot of Döner this last week. I had the best Döner of my life...of the past year of my life haha. It was amazing. Made the whole week.

Last week:

Montag: Last Monday was fun, and again, pretty relaxed. We've kind of exhausted the immediate possibilities for P-day activities, and going to the same stores and eating at the same restaurant every week gets old fast. But the relaxation part of it all is great. I also got my haircut at the salon. Fancy. I get the 'Facon schnitt' which basically means I come out looking European. It's a good thing. After P-Day was over, we had an appointment with T. We were planning to baptize her on Saturday, but she ended up having to go to Hamburg to meet with her lawyer, so that was a no-go. Too bad, but we're not too worried at the same time. After meeting with her and talking about the baptism/authority and all that, we went to a student dorm and passed out invitations for a fireside we were having called, 'Are mormons christian?' I'll talk about that later.

Diesntag: Tuesday was interesting. So we were planning on having a German class and L, one of our investigators, wanted to come. We were there and waited for him, but he never showed. Turns out he had just gotten news that he was accepted for an internship! Which is cool. But no excuse for missing German! Geez. But good for him. We ended up having our own mini German class and we made more invitations for this fireside. After that, we went with Sister Holbrook and we went by on an older lady that the sisters were meeting with before they left. She didn't seem to remember missionaries....but she is kind of old haha. We'll be going back a different time. We went by on the older couple, the S's, that day too. Herr S is doing not too good health-wise and we just stopped by and chatted for like 5 minutes. We also gave him a blessing. It was a good experience. After that, we went home and prepared/finished our workshop for zone training. We meet with F in the church and we talked about Heleman 15:7-8 about how everything really starts with scripture study. I'll talk about that later too. At the end of the day, we helped with institute food and it was so delicious. Sister Holbrook is an AMAZING cook. So is Sister Wunderli!

Mittwoch: Wednesday was insanity. We woke up at 5:30 to catch a train to Neubrandenburg. Everything went smoothly, until we had to switch trains in Güstrow. I was sitting on the next train with everybody, and realized that I had forgotten my bag! Like all the stuff that I needed to go on splits (my English scriptures, clothes, toiletries...). It sucked. I wasn't too bummed though. Stuff happens haha. But we were talking about it (in English) on the train and somebody overheard us and asked about my bag and stuff. It turned out that he had this number for the train lost and found stuff. He gave it to us and I was way grateful. When we got to Neubrandenburg, we called the number and the lady told us that she had the bag! It was still in Güstrow. Miracles. So we went to Zone Training Meeting. Elder Collins and I gave our workshop about committing people and why commitments are important/effective/essential.

 

Teaching at Zone Conference with Elder Collins

 We related it to sandwiches somehow.

 

The making of a sandwich was likened to an invitation...

It was good. We got our point across haha. 

 

Cool glasses...

It was a great meeting. 

 

Elder Collins and Elder Pollard

On the way home, we stopped in Güstrow and I picked up my bag! That was a miracle. And then I rode with Elder Atkinsen to Schwerin. We got there and had a lesson with a very interesting Muslim man. We was from France. He clarified that only a third of Muslims are middle eastern, and that any 'true' Muslim would never ever miss an opportunity to learn more about another religion and to just sit down and talk. That was very interesting to me. He had a sweet husky dog. I liked it. It was a long day haha.

Donnerstag: For the split, Elder Atkinsen and I went to this city called Wismar, which is on the Northern coast.

 

Wismar

Interesting fact, the first move filmed outdoors, Nosferatu, was filmed in Wismar. Fun fact of the day. We walked a lot in the rain and talked to a lot of people. I then ate the best Döner on earth.It was so good. The guy put like a bunch of Turkish cream cheese on it. It was just amazing. When we got back to Rostock, we went directly to Family Home Evening. It was a great day. I was really tired at the end haha.

Freitag: Friday was a good day. We had Gemiko in the morning, and we ate a good lunch. We did weekly planning, which is always fun. But we didn't get to finish it. We also had an appointment with F in his apartment, which went pretty well. We talked about the natural man and how we can get rid of him. We only had 30 minutes, but it was still good. We then came back and we had this fireside that Brother G from Berlin gave. It was way cool and T invited like 5 friends who were there. The fireside was awesome, and it ended with us, the missionaries, explaining way we came on missions. It was just good. And I got to talk with T's friends after and give out Books of Mormon. It was just good haha I can't say that enough.

 Samstag: So originally, we were supposed to have a street display and a baptism on Saturday, but T had to go to Hamburg, so that didn't happen, and the weather wasn't good enough to have a street display, Everything would have been kind of wet. So instead, we went to Schwerin and helped the elders there do some finding. I was with Elder Huebsch for the time, and we had some great conversations with people. Talking to people is so interesting. You just get to learn what other people like and stuff. I can definitely improve at that though. Sometimes when I hear or think that they don't have interest, I just lose interest altogether. But that's total hypocrisy! People are great. I love people. We barely caught our train home to Rostock, and cleaned and finished planning and studied. It was solid.

Sonntag: Sunday was fast Sunday because of general conference. It was a great meeting. Tobias taught the investigator class first hour, which was good. He did a great job. We had three investigators at church, also bomb. And the testimony meeting was jut prima. We had gemeindeessen after everything. Like break the fast. The food was so good. We made bread to bring to eat. We make bread. It's cool. After church, we made some calls. We went and tried to have an appointment with one of the sisters cold investigators, but we couldn't get a joint teach. We had met in the past with her and F together, but he couldn't come. So we had to leave. But she gave us ice cream. After that, we went by on old investigators. We made this grid to group all of our contacts together, and we started taking for of that. We contacted 5 old investigators and it was cool. Figured out what had happened with them. We then came home and studied.

Solid week. Not too many appointments, but we were really busy. It's weird/funny how that happens sometimes. I often have to take a step back and think if I'm using time effectively. We try our hardest, but we make mistakes haha. A lot. But it's a learning process. This last week was good though, the weather started shaping up and acting like April weather! It was 19 degrees C yesterday.....that's almost short sleeve white shirt weather. How great is that? It's beginning to look a lot like spring. Trees are budding and people are smiling again. Rostock is being pulled out of the depressing winter. I love it.

That's super cool that a whole family was baptized! That's like the missionary's dream. No joke. I'm glad you found the Andrus' blog. They have those pictures from our workshop. And yea I wear those glasses because they look good. I don't wear them too much actually haha. It's kind of a joke. That's way exciting that Thomas is going on the pioneer trek. Good for him. That's crazy that they found an old bomb in Berlin. Right when I came to Hannover, the whole Innenstadt was under construction because they found an old bomb...right in the middle of Innenstadt! That's just insane. It sounds like everything is well though. That house will be empty and lonely again with just Thomas there haha.

Heleman 15:7-8! Kind of a cool story. I was just flipping through my Book of Mormon, trying to think of a good lesson to teach Frank, and I noticed that this section was marked and with notes and stuff. I could tell that it was my handwriting, but I just don't ever remember marking that scripture and all the notes I wrote! Kind of confusing. But luckily I did at some point haha. The scripture says

'And behold, ye do know of yourselves, for ye have witnessed it, that as many of them as are brought to the knowledge of the truth, and to know of the wicked and abominable traditions of their fathers, and are led to believe the holy scriptures, yea, the prophecies of the holy prophets, which are written, which leadeth them to faith on the Lord, and unto repentance, which faith and repentance bringeth a change of heart unto them— Therefore, as many as have come to this, ye know of yourselves are firm and steadfast in the faith, and in the thing wherewith they have been made free.'

I made some interesting notes that lay out a process, which leads to being steadfast and firm in the faith. It all starts with a desire (knowledge of the truth/knowing the wickedness that we do). Followed by (and the real solid part of it all) scripture study. Scripture study leads to faith on the Lord, which will ultimately lead us to repent. Repentance is essential always. Progress in this life, both spiritual and temporal, are end products of the repentance process. Whether we know it or not haha. True repentance is that change of heart mentioned, and this change of heart is a great and essential platform for testimony. Kind of cool! So study the scriptures! Scripture study is like my favorite part of the day. I love it.

I love you all so much! 2 more weeks in this transfer, hopefully we'll see some miracles. Have a great week.

Elder Pollard

Week Sixty-four

Hey! So my 5th transfer in Rostock is halfway over...that's super weird haha. Maybe you've noticed, but I like talking about how fast the time flies! It's incredible. I don't necessarily like it either haha. Pros and cons. It's always nice to look and back be able to say, well I've been a missionary for 15 months now...but at the same time it seems like so long! Same thing when you look at how much time is left. It's not a lot of time at all......which is too bad because I just have so much more to learn. On the other hand, it seems so far away from now. Naja, needless to say, I'm super grateful that I'm in Germany right now as a missionary. I love being here and doing what I do. Maybe looking back at last week can help you understand why I dig missionary work haha.

I talked about Monday in my last email...

Diesntag: Tuesday was P-Day! It was relaxing this time haha. We ate out with Sister Holbrook, got some ice cream, went shopping, and RELAXED. I wrote some letters, cleaned up. It was all bueno. After P-Day, and because it was Tuesday, we ate at institute and then I had a conference call with the leadership people. It went well.

Mittwoch: Wednesday was kind of cool because we had some bomb lessons. We met with F and talked about repentance. He's making such great progress and he wants so bad to be better. It's like amazing and motivating. I look up to him. He's changing a lot about himself to live in accordance with the gospel. I pray for him so much that he can reach his goal of being baptized. We also had an appointment with B. B is one of the investigators that we have to take over because the sisters left. He's super cool though I like him a lot. I don't really know where we're going to start to take over teaching him though, it's kind of hard to know. But it was a good day!

Donnerstag: Thursday was also great! We had district meeting in the morning, which was strange, because the district in Rostock is so different now haha. We have new elders in Schwerin, as well as the sisters leaving. But the new elders are awesome! I'm super stoked to get to know them. It was also a really awesome day, because Brother G took us out to see a crazy old church that was built like in 1200 or something. It's called Münster Bad Doberan and it was way cool to see.

Münster Bad Doberan

Church back then was kind of a show though, which is sad. But it was just amazing. Brother G is an awesome person. I like him a lot. We came back and had FHE that night.

Freitag: Friday was relaxed-er. We had planning, which went well. We had a great joint teach with T and T. She made us some more Ghana food. Fried fish and potato ball with this spicy salsa stuff. It was really good. I'm super grateful that she likes to feed us haha. It's always fun. We talked about tithing with her after. I think it went well.

Samstag: Saturday was the first day of conference weekend! The most exciting time for missionaries. It's like a legit holiday for us. We come together and listen to conference with the ward and our investigators and everyone's happy! Before conference, we had a joint teach with D, the new member here, and T. It was ok haha. D is great though, he's a huge help. Then we watched conference.

Sonntag: Sunday was the day. Conference was awesome! We watched it all day, has some investigators there. A MIRACLE HAPPENED! C M is his name. He basically walked in, said he watched the Saturday session already. Said he's been reading the BoM for the past 6 months and believes that the church is true.....how often does THAT happen??!! Oh my gosh it was great. We ate cheese leak soup and mett. It was an overall good day!!

So conference! 3 crazy things! First, President Sabin is now Elder Sabin. That's way cool! When they were saying the names, I was just thinking that they'd say his haha because he was released recently. And then they did! Weird haha. Second, the story about Mister Pollard in Canada! It was weird to hear President Monson say Pollard so much...and third, the story of the man in East Germany visiting the member in Hungary...the daughter of the German man is in the Rostock branch! And he lived in Mecklenburg Vorpommern. The members were freaking out when he told that story, because they'd heard it so much haha. Kind of cool right?

I really enjoyed the talk from Elder Cardon about repentance! That was an awesome talk. I think we'll be using that one a lot haha. I liked Elder Bednar's talk...it was hard for me to follow at times. I was tired haha.

I love you guys so much, sorry this email is short! But I pray for you every night and morning. I hope that's helping! Have a great week and love each other.

Elder Pollard

Week Sixty-three

So hey! This last week was like kind of crazy haha. To say the least. Ups, downs, sicknesses, holidays. It was just what you'd expect on a mission haha. Oh yea and I'm emailing on Tuesday because yesterday was a national holiday in Germany. Germans go big on holidays. Even though a very small percent of the population believes in Christ and his Resurrection..or even knows what those things are haha, they still take the day off of work and all the stores are closed. We had to work yesterday and take P-Day today. No big though!

 

Last week was busy. Here's what happened:

 

Montag: Last Monday was fun. P-Day is always fun. The sisters were in Berlin because they were having interviews, so it was just us and T in Rostock. We ate Vapianos, our favorite Italian restaurant. We went shopping a little, bought groceries, and hung out. It was pretty average haha. After P-Day was over, Brother E came and fixed some stuff in our apartment, so we had to be there for that. It was weird timing. We worked on this grid thing that I like doing, which grids out the cities and shows us where all the contacts and members are. So we can work more efficiently! German engineering. We also had a lesson with F, which went well. We talked about following the Prophet and keeping the commandments. It was a good lesson. Elder Collins and I have to boast in the Lord haha because our teaching has gotten a lot better. I'm never really concerned about appointments because we plan well and execute. Like Marines. Except Missionaries. It was a good P-Day.

Dienstag: Tuesday we were in Berlin. We had to wake up at 4 in the morning! Dang but all was good and we made our train and everything. We got to Berlin and met up with Sister Holbrook and a bunch of other missionaries and got to the church building there. It's so cool! In the middle of Berlin. Super close to the Brandenburgertor and the Siegersäule. 

Brandenburgertor

Siegersäule

 Cool German landmarks. Well we got there and it was great to see all the missionaries that I know. It was so fun. We heard some great themas. President Kosak talked a little about Easter. In Russian, the word for Sunday is also the word for resurrection. Apparently haha. I like that. So every Sunday they celebrate Christ! Subconsciously. I didn't spell that right. Sister Kosak talked about taking care of our companions and the assistants talked about 'risking the awkward' and talking to people on trains at bus stops etc. It was really cool. We ate lunch, too. Kassler and veggies and potatoes. I didn't eat too much. It made me a little sick...it was just a good meeting. We had to wait a long time after Zone Conference for the assistants to take us to Bahnhof and buy us tickets. But it was all god. I was able to lead the troops through Berlin Hauptbahnhof (Which is huge and bigger then the airport there). We got home very late haha.

Mittwoch: Wednesday was kind of craziness. We studied in the morning, and took an early train to go out to Neubukow and visit our Branch President. They made us delicious food oh my gosh! Schnizel, Kartoffeln, und Gemüse. Some solid German food. After we came home, we taught English class! We only taught Ljuba, a Russian girl that we met on the way home from Berlin haha. She was on the train and we just started talking and we rode all the way from Berlin to Rostock together. Like really crazy miracle/coincidence. It went alright haha I'm really bad at teaching English. After that, we went with Tobias and met with Rong-Ling. It was a pretty cool appointment. Pretty relaxed and we taught about families and pryer. Good stuff.

Donnerstag: Thursday was weird. In the morning, we met with the sisters and 'saw them off'. They were both transferred out of Rostock all of a sudden! Not cool at all! I was so upset really. Like one second they were there, and the other the had to pack and leave Rostock. No idea why. The got transferred to somewhere else. It was so sudden. Nobody was happy. But we helped them get to Bahnhof and talked about the investigators that we're taking care of now. Still not OK with me haha I'm really upset about the whole thing. Rostock feels so empty now. Oh well. We met with D, which was OK. He still has some worries about really 'investigating' the church and everything. We'll see how it goes. After that appointment, we met up with T and had two appointments with J and T. They are both African and speak English. And single women, so we bring a joint teach. And T speaks English so it just works out perfectly. Both really really good lessons! J is awesome, and said she'd read 20 chapters of the Book of Mormon before we met again. T is being baptized on the 13th, which is coming up way soon! Good stuff. After those appointments, we came back and had Family Home Evening.

 

Freitag: Friday was cold! That's all I remember haha. We had Gemiko in the morning and President Albrecht was there, which was super good. We got some good unity with the ward here. We're still working on it too. But steps are being made. We went home and ate, and then had two appointments with members. We visited Bruder S and talked about keeping the sabbath day. He gave us a cake and candy. And then we met with the L's and talked about Easter haha what else. It was way good. They have 2 puppies that were hilarious. We ate some crazy good apple pastry things. I was grateful. Still am. After all the we went home and did weekly planning. Actually we had to go and empty the sisters apartment of perishable food. Sad.

Samstag: Saturdays are good still. We had a lesson fall out in the morning, but we ate lunch instead. So we went and played basketball, which was great. We're bringing one of Ts' friends, who is super cool and maybe he'll have interest in meeting with us! Or coming to church. We always invite. I liked it because I just need exercise. I need to move or I get all weird and anxious haha. That was good. After that, we came and got ready for ping-pong, but nobody showed up, which is too bad. So we took care of some other things instead. We ended up having a mini eating appointment with T. We ate met. MMMMMMMM almost raw meat. I love it.

Sonntag: Sunday was Easter! And it was great. Well except for the fact that Elder Collins was sick. That was rough. He had/has a flu type illness. But church was good. We had like 4 investigators there! T came, which is great. After church the A/E family had us over for Easter. It was sooo fun and SOOOO GOOD! They made Kassler, Suarkraut, Knödel, Kartoffeln, there was a bunch of chocolate, and Mousee. It was just a great meal. Too bad elder Collins was like really sick haha. We went and walked on the beach and then came back and ate cake. That's how Germans do it. Lots of cake. We had to cancel an appointment that night because Elder Collins was sick.

Montag: Yesterday wasn't P-Day! It was a holiday and everything was closed. Sad days. I remember a year ago when I was in Hannover and we didn't have to worry about the internet laden being closed on Easter because it was run by Muslims. Those were the days. But we had to 'work' yesterday. It was good for Elder Collins, weil er sich erholen musste. He had to take a break because he was so sick! It was crazy actually. I was scared. But he's doing better today. I spent all of Monday reading. Literally. I read The books of Ether, Moroni, and Deuteronomy. All day. It was amazing.

That was the week! It was such a long week. Oh my gosh haha I feel 2 years older just from Easter week, 2013. But it was way good, too. I really learned a lot this last week haha it sounds cheesy but it's true. Zone Conference was great, church was really cool, and just dealing with disappointment is always a learning process. Like the pioneer lady who thanked God in a prayer for all the locusts eating the food! But I complain way more.

Easter in San Diego sounds like it was super fun! I miss food from home....so much...but the German food here is amazing. I really do feel at home with some of the families here in Rostock and in Germany period. It's great how much the members take care of us. I love it. Thanks for telling me I'm good looking. It's really important to me. NO spring has not come to Rostock yet. It's still colder. It's warmer actually but not spring yet. There's still snow on the ground. And good job Thomas for passing your Eagle Board! Woo!

I really like this thought from last week. It's about dealing with trials. It all starts with D&C 121:1. Joseph Smith in Liberty Jail (Ironic that the jail was called Liberty) and how he asks basically why is God hiding from him? Humans always come to a point when we feel alone and just really upset. 2 Nephi 2:25 says that we're here to be happy, so why do we have these moments of being upset? Read on to 2 Nephi 2:27 which says that we have this choice to be happy, and that we need to CHOOSE eternal life or happiness and not 'eternal damnation' as it is, or misery. Satan tries to make us miserable like himself. Whenever we're feeling that way, he's having an affect on us somehow. God doesn't make us miserable haha he can give us trials, but only good feelings come from God. Satan brings us down though. Like Peter walking on the water, in this moment of pure faith and trust, Peter looks away and focuses on the hardships (waves and wind) around him, and starts to sink or be pulled down by Satan. Christ saves him, though. Christ also felt alone and forgotten on the cross when he asked God why he left him. He had to experience this to know how it feels. It was part of his Atonement, being separated from Heavenly Father. That's like the worst thing that can happen to us, but Christ know how it feels. Thank goodness he never gave up and now we can go to Christ when we feel this way. He knows EXACTLY how it feels. So choose happiness! Joshua 1:5-7 gives some good advice and motivation also.

I love missionary work. Its so great, and really just helps me learn so much. I'm put into all types of weird situations, and try to help all types of people in theirs. I really like meeting new people and just talking. It love it haha.

I know that this work is true! I am so thankful for all the people who support this work and pray for us. We need the help! Especially me! I'm looking forward to this next week!

I hope you all have a great after Easter week. I love and Miss you all!

Elder Pollard