Week Eighty-three (135 days left...)

Hey guys...5th week of the 13th transfer. I feel like an old person. A lot haha. Like growing old is the worst. I want to be 20 and irresponsible for the rest of my life. The last week was like really fast. But I'm SO tired today haha we were at so many appointments and traveling in our area is kind of a pain. My shoulder is doing better. I can move it and whatever I want with it. It hurts sometimes and it's really week so I stretch it and try to work it back up. Pray for me haha. The best parts of the week were the story that Elder Loitz and I are writing about our district, and we started reading psalms together and having indie philosophical discussions about the gospel while we sit on the floor with candles.....It keeps us going haha.

 

Last week:

 

Montag: Monday was p-day. We were supposed to do all our work in the morning and have a nice relaxed day, but our appointment canceled so we moved everything around. We had a good p-day. That night we were both wiped though so we just made calls and cleaned and did apartment work. It was really good though because we made appointments out with like 4 people. So work smarter not harder.

 

Diesnstag: Tuesday morning was great. We met with Sister B from the ward and it was the first time meeting her. She kind of yelled at us at first but she calmed down and ended up giving us a bunch of food. So we're grateful. That was a blessing because we had like no money at all haha. Story of our lives. SO we kind of walked around with cans of food in our backpacks all day. We ate out with Sister B at Mr. Wu's, our favorite Chinese buffet. Always golden. Then we had an awkward appointment with this family that we thought was inactive, but the just go to another ward haha. That was great too. And we met with H at night. He made us rice and Persian food. The best.

 

Mittwoch: Wednesday was District Meeting. woo. DCM is always interesting. Our district is the best actually. I love them all. Like we're friends. We came home and ate and I worked on my 'therapeutic maneuvers', as I call them. It usually ends up with me just dancing with the stretchy band to music. Missions make you crazy. We had a great lesson with R, our investigator and we finally got her to admit and commit to reading the BoM because it'll help her. It only took like 4 weeks. Gracious.

 

Donnerstag: Thursday was hectic! We met with T K in the morning, met a new sister from the ward named sister K, which was a cool lesson. And then we rode to Bad Oldesloe and met with Sister S. Haha oh gosh H drove us and he went down a one way street and this cop came out and talked to us. Totally embarrassing but nothing happened. But we ran around to those appointments.

 

Freitag: Friday was great we went and ate with Sister B again at Greek food. I love Greek food so much. And then we went and met with E A. It was a good lesson. He wants to learn more and come to church, but he works like 18 hours a day or something crazy stupid like that, so it's hard. But we're working really hard with him and hopefully he'll want to receive his answer enough to actually do it. That would be good for him. We had to ride back to Bad Oldesloe after that for our joint teach with B. That went better then last time haha. We'll see where that goes.

 

Samstag: Saturday morning was the gauntlet. We played soccer in this cage field thing with the ward. I only fell on my arm once haha it hurt so bad. But it's all good again. Soccer is fun and we're really developing good relationships through it. They always ask why American missionaries get to good at soccer. It's the spirit. But Saturday was cool after getting ready and studying, Frau S called us because her grandson from America was there so we went and met him. He's going on his mission to Finland soon, so we talked about being a missionary. It was super cool and then we went home again.

 

Sonntag: Sunday was pretty normal. We got a new GML (ward mission leader) though! Bruder Z was replaced by Bruder J, the jacked guy from Britain. I'm super excited for that! I think he'll be great. I know he will haha. After church we ate at the N's. We had fish and potatoes and it was good tasting. Then we came home and we planned for the next week. And I did my 'therapeutic maneuvers'. Classic.

 

So the week was pretty average actually. My shoulder is doing better, even though it's hurting right now. Last week was good because we got this refocus back and I had a good study this morning so things are golden. Psalms 1 is the greatest. You should read it.

 

For the family: My shoulder is good. I have moments where I just need to take a ton of pain killers haha. But like I've talked to 2 different doctors that have told me that there's nothing you can really do about it. It'll heal and muscle will rebuild naturally and everything will be peachy keen. Transfer calls are on Friday!

 

I love you all so much! Can't wait to see you!

 

Elder Pollard

Week Eighty-two

Many birthday greetings from the good side of the wall.

Your birthday celebration sounds like it trumps both mine since I've been a missionary haha. Sword fish tacos sounds a lot better then potatoes and gravy. It's amazing how you stay 29.

Last week was very interesting for me! Because I was in the hospital on Monday. We were playing football with the district in Lübeck on Monday. I fell down right onto my shoulder and like couldn't move it all all immediately. I also couldn't really let it hang or it hurt a lot. So I sat on the bench and like tried not to throw up because it hurt a lot. One of the sisters in our district is an EMT or something (I always get hurt with EMT's around me) so she checked me out. We called Sister Kosak and she just told me to go to the hospital. The doctor took one look at me and told me that I broke my collarbone. So he sent me to X-rays and we got that taken care of. He tried taking my shirt off, but I just wasn't having it haha it hurt too bad.

He had to like rip it off me while I was yelling at him. Kind of like Will Ferrel in Old School...but yea the X-rays showed that I had no breaks. But I did have a grade 2 ac joint separation. Which means my collarbone is kind of sticking up and my shoulder is lower than usual. No pain, no gain. But the overall deal is that it will heal itself and there's no point in surgery or anything. I'm on pain meds and doing stretchy band therapy and doing missionary work. My life is great.!

So that happened on Monday.

Diesntag: Tuesday was fun! I like slept all day and rested. We had one appointment with E D. He is so awesome! He wanted to be baptized like 2 years ago, but totally lost contact with the church somehow. We met again and talked about baptism and how we can help him and he's totally on board to do everything to find his answer. He's from Ghana, so we teach in English, and he has a family! So hopefully we'll help these people find their answer and receive some blessings. That night we went to Lübeck and slept over. We kind of had a money crisis haha so they had to pick us up.

Mittwoch: Tuesday was more recovery, but we did have two joint teaches. One with K and M from the ward. The other was with R and K from the ward. They both went OK.....language barriers with them both are keeping us from teaching like we want to. We also had interviews with President Kosak that morning. We had a normal district meeting, but President and Sister Kosak were there. it was really cool and my interview was great too. I learned what day I'm coming home......ask president if you want to know haha.

Donnerstag: Thursday was just Bruder K from the ward. We went and taught him about receiving answers to prayer. It was a good lesson and he gave us peanut butter after. And then I went home and rested my shoulder.

Freitag: Friday was a full day of rest. That's when I bought my new meds because the ones the doctor prescribed were out. But we went on exchanges that night so I went up to Lübeck.

Samstag: The Exchange in Lübeck was tight. We didn't do too much but we had an appointment with an American! We taught the plan of salvation and it was like really powerful.

Sonntag: Last day of rest. We ate at the F's who made us mountains of food. That's the best. Then I took a nap and we planned for the week.

So, my week was pretty boring. Sitting in the apartment all day is so boring. I don't want it anymore. My shoulder is doing better and I move it all around and I can work normally with it. It hurts if I stretch it too far up or across my body. Everything is fine.

The week was good though. Like I needed to stay inside and sleep all day. My shoulder would have exploded if I didn't but being inside means like a lot of study and thinking. Which is also good. I'm excited for life and the rest of my mission.

We can totally wear khaki pants now....weird.

Well, I hope you have a great week!

Love and Miss you all!

Elder Pollard

Week Eighty-one

Hey Maam!

Your week sounds like it was the best!

Not too much time this week, so I'll send you the highlights!

We were in Kiel on Tuesday and Wednesday for leadership meetings. It went well. Riding the train makes me super tired though haha.

Delingsdorf District

We had a great joint teach on Wednesday with a lady in Bad Oldesloe. Bruder L was with us and he is a great teacher and can really talk about the gospel in a normal way that is very interesting and heartfelt. I liked that appointment a lot. This lady, Frau V, is our newest investigator! She had investigated everything a little while ago, but we're bringing her back.

Thursday was the worst. We were trapped inside of our apartment because they redid the flooring. And the two workers only spoke sechsich, this crazy dialect of German. Interesting. We were trapped for like 6 hours. but we had a good lesson with Frau B and we taught really well. The Spirit was there and I loved it.

Friday was the best! E and K, our African friends, made us African food! Yams and spinach dip. Very good.

Saturday we had two great member appointments!

Sunday was also great. Church was fun and we had 3 less active members back. We have met with them and invited them back! And they came! Miracles.

We also had the best appointment with H, who told us stories from the Iranian army. Pretty sure he started the war between Iraq and Iran!

Well it was a great week!

Sorry for the lame email!

Elder Pollard!

P.S. I love you.

Week Eighty

Wundbar.

 

So like the email I sent last week just blew chunks. A thousand pardons.

 

This week was more interesting though! With a high of 37 degrees Celsius and a low of no Joint teaches haha. It was just interesting and hard and I'm happy that it's P-Day and we're looking at a packed week ahead of us. A lot fell out this week! Like the good old days in Hannover! Fallen out appointments with Africans. It's not racist, it's true. But Elder Loitz and I are champions and made it through the week. Let me tell you about it. Come with me, and you'll be in a world of pure Imagination!

 

Montag: Monday was P-day. Not much happened, because our area is actually really boring for P-Day. But we did our Shopping and Hood rat stuff. And then we went back to work and found a great African girl named V from Kenya. She was really open and interested in getting a Book of Mormon in English, so we talked a little about it and made out a new appointment. That was about it! Other then that, a lot of doors and fallen out appointments.

 

Diesntag: Tuesday was great! It rained though, so boo. We met with T K and talked about reading in the scriptures, which went really well. We actually read 3 Nephi 27 with him and tried to apply everything that was said to us. T is such a great guy! He has a huge heart and I like meeting with him. And then we did some doors and found a really interesting guy who took a Book of Mormon and we talked for like an hour but he wouldn't make out a return app. Too bad. Then it rained forever. And we went and had a 'door app' which is when the person doesn't let you into their apartment and it's just awkward haha. And after that we had an app with an older investigator who is a pastor in  some crazy Seventh-day Adventist African church. It went ok.

 

Mittwoch: District Meeting! Always a pleasure. We talked about our goals in the district and how to teach people on the street more effectively. The zone leaders were there, so that was nice. Our zone leaders are great and they work really well with the district leaders. Tomorrow I have to go to Kiel to a district leader schooling thing. When we got back to Hamburg, we had an eating appointment with the R's! My second favorite half-Bolivian family in the world haha. It went super. Then we met with Bruder D. He's been so busy at work and such that it's hard to get to church and his life just sounds crazy right now haha. Oh my then H came and helped us with a joint teach. But this guy was just super drunk and not all there, so it just ended up being kind of scary. Then this guy kissed me on the neck.........

 

Donnerstag: We were supposed to meet with V on Thursday but she bailed on us. So we were just let out in the horribly hot weather haha. Neither of us felt good though, so we followed the Spirit to an investigators house and he let us in to use the bathroom...then we sat and talked for a while. We also had an appointment with Schwester S in Bad Oldesloe, which went well. She's so sweet and just loves the church! And she's been back for 2 weeks in a row. Reactivation nation. Oh and then we contacted an old investigator named 

L S. Nuff said.

 

Freitag: Friday was the hottest day of my life. 95 degrees and humid. Add a white shirt and tie and that's just asking to be cooked. I disliked it. But the appointments we had were great. We met with E and K from Ghana who said they'll be baptized if they receive their testimony that the Book of Mormon is trued. Slap hands. And then we planned (thanks goodness, it was so hot) and had an appointment with E! Who is doing basically the same. He doesn't really understand us because he speaks French, but he likes us and likes our message.

 

Samstag: SOCCER. I own. Like 4 goals again. Pollardinho. They're already selling jerseys. But the rest of that day was silly because we had joint teaches fall out which meant that we had to cancel appointments. And it was just great.

 

Sonntag: Sunday was interesting. We met with Herr R who was in church again. He's strange. He only believes in the Gospel of John. And if we try to teach out of the Old Testament, it's totally invalid in his eyes. We mentioned that God has a body and he couldn't put that idea down. I mean, it totally makes sense that he has a body. I could talk about it for hours but it's not too important or essential to receiving a testimony of repentance or the Holy Ghost.....just strange. But church was good. Testimony meeting was bomb. And H gave a solid testimony. And then we ate with the D's. That was great because I got to play guitar for the first time in forever. And we ate real German food. Win. We get fed a lot of weird like taco salad because people think that's all Americans eat. I love it. After that we met with H and we celebrated him becoming active again. #GOINGTOWORK

 

The week was just FULL and this next week will be even fuller. We have a lot of train riding to do. And a lot of appointments. Wish us luck and pray for us that we can find joint teaches because we meet with a lot of single women.

 

But Elder Pollard and Elder Loitz are having a Grand old time!

 

Have a great week!

Love you all!

 

Elder Pollard