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

Week Seventy-nine

Hello! It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood here in Ahrensburg, Germany. Just kidding, it's hot as heck outside. Last week was so so so hot! It just killed me haha but it's ok, because we got A LOT of work done and saw a lot of cool miracles and surprises on the streets of Hamburg.

Last week:

Montag: Monday seems like a very long time ago haha. We had a pretty normal P-Day in Ahrensburg. We emailed at the W's and they even made us lunch. It was super and I emailed for a long time because I had so many emails. Other then that, we just chilled and rested. Got ready for the beast week haha. When P-Day was over, we rode to Hamburg with the U-Bahn and went by some less active members. We didn't contact any, though. Bad timing. We did contact a referral though. They didn't have interest, but it was good to make that contact. And then we came home. So a pretty low key day. #calmbeforethestorm

Diesntag: Tuesday was great. We rode to Lübeck early in the morning to pick Elder Gleason up so he didn't have to wait alone for his new companion. We rode back to Hamburg and studied and ate lunch. Then we went and helped Bruder K empty out his janky old fish aquarium. This thing is like Shrek's swamp in a 50 gallon glass tank. Nasty. But it was good to help him because he has seeing problems. I love service. But we had a talk after about becoming active again. He has some health problems, but they don't make it impossible for him to be in the sacrament meeting. We're going to be working more with him. We went to Schmalenbeck and met another less active member who gave us her number and said we could make an appointment, and then went by on Frau S who was home and we had a nice talk in her garden. She is so super nice and I just want to help her. She's just not thrilled to learn about our message. We'll see. Then we came home and studied German. #shreklivesinHamburg

Mittwoch: Mittwoch means 'middle week'. Isn't that funny. So Wednesday was a beasty day. We had district meeting in the morning, so we rode to Lübeck and met the new member of our district, Elder Pack. Fresh from the office in Berlin haha so he knows secrets. It's good to have him here. I'm excited to work with him. District Meeting was good. We then were supposed to have an appointment, but it fell out. We came home and ate instead. We went back out and contacted a referral/had a lesson/got a new investigator!!! J is his name and he is 21 and listened to us. Which is just always good news. After that, we met with Bruder D, who's apartment was like a sauna,oh my gosh it was so hot. I couldn't stand it. #it'sgettinghotinhere

Donnerstag: Thursday was fun! We got to ride our bikes like 30 minutes north of Ahrensburg to a small town called Rehagen to contact a referral. It was nice to be in the country haha. But riding bikes is fun too......no. We had a great appointment with Schwester S from the ward and decided with her that we should meet more often and help her come 100% back. So we're looking forward to that as well. Her apartment was also really hot though. That night, we had a good joint teach with M, an African girl who's living at a members house right now. She speaks french though, so it's hard to communicate. It went well though. Africans Rock. #iloveafrica

Freitag: Friday was busy as heck. We went and did a lot of finding around lunch time and didn't find anybody, but somebody gave us a referral over the speaking box thing haha it was great. After finding for a while, we waited for an appointment that fell out. We had a great appointment with H, ate at the T's (they grilled, it was wonderful) and then had a joint teach with the K's and Herr R. That was very interesting, because he comes from a very theological and philosophical background when talking about the gospel. It's hard to teach simply and ask simple questions when we get some crazy poetic philosophical answer back. But we'll see. #whoisGodforyou?

Samstag: Saturday morning was soccer. And we rocked it! I scored like 5 goals against the Germans and they say I'm one of the two best elders who's played soccer there. Whodathunk. The lord blesses the missionaries so we can gain the ward's respect. That afternoon we met with Schwester C and her man who's African and Muslim. It was interesting haha. I feel like we're losing her to Islam. But it's her choice so it's all good. Then we went and contacted a bunch of people. That was the hottest day of my life. #gymtanlaundry

Sonntag: Sunday was church, which was great. We had two less actives back and an investigator!!! And a surprise visit from an American family who I had to translate for. Translating blows. It's way hard to focus haha. We ate with the K's in the church and went by on Sister S hasn't been there in a while. And then we had a great weekly planning session. #sixdaysyoushallworkandtheseventhtoo

SO the week was full of appointments! And now I'm enjoying P-Day! Gotta go though!

Love you all!

Elder Pollard

Week Seventy-eight

...in which Elder Pollard discovers the joy of hash tags...

Hey everybody!

This past week was just.....hot! Oh my gosh it got so warm in Germany! Like maybe not as warm as some places in America right now, but the humidity here is just killer. Especially with a tie and shirt and pants! Just sticky hot and when we're out all day it's like dangerous warm haha. I feel like a raisin because I'm so dehydrated. #hydrate

But like, the week was super solid and I had a lot of fun. We had a cool leadership meeting in Hamburg and I got to see a lot of people I know and love from the mission. We also had some some straight up miracles this last week! The miracles keep coming as long as we're working! #wunder

Let me tell you about this last week!

Montag: Last Monday was pretty solid! We had a normal P-Day, kind of haha. We had to wait FOREVER to get our haircuts oh my gosh. And the haircut lady was super awkward so yea. It looked ok haha. It's not too short though. Just normal. After that, we came to the Waterböhrs to email! They're so nice for letting us email at their house. I mean in Ahrensburg, where we live, there is like no internet cafe. We live in a super rich area, and everybody had email and internet at their house, so no need for internet cafes. We would have to ride the train all the way to Hamburg to email if they didn't let us do it here! We're super grateful. After that, we went and picked strawberries with the N's! Germans go hard with their strawberries oh gosh haha. They love them. So we got to pick some and take them home and make jam. And we had family home evening with them. Then we went home and finished P-Day. #strawberryfieldsforevaeva

Diesntag: Tuesday was our BEAST DAY! We started off with some good study. I've been studying specific topics that I feel I need to learn more about and have more experiences with, along with the New Testament, because Jesus is great and I love reading his words. The Bible rocks. We started off our day by doing doors in Bargteheide in a newer area where a lot of families are moving in. We didn't have any lessons, but a few people told us to come back. Yes. Then we grilled with the M's for lunch. Yes. And then we went home and had a joint teach with Bruder M. We met with R, an older investigator and we had a great lesson! She had read in the Book of Mormon and expressed desire to learn more. Unfortunately, she's went on vacation and she'll be gone for a while. We're praying that she reads the book with her time off. She is super cool. After that appointment, we walked A LOT because one of us forget their bus pass and we had no money. But it's all good. We went by on a referral that wasn't home and then we rode the train home and rode our bikes then to another joint teach. We met with Sister F and Frau S in the ward house! It was pretty cool. Frau S is super nice and great. We do need to pray a lot to know what she needs to come closer to God. She is pretty stubborn haha. #jointteachswag

Mittwoch: Wednesday was great. It was my super secret leadership training meeting haha. It was nice and I learned A TON there. It was about using scriptures to teach and teaching and our purpose. We're just super focused on goals and teaching in this mission. I find it great. We had to take apart 1 Nephi 19:23 and like dissect everything about it. I thought it was sick haha. I also got to see ELDER STANLEY! My trainee! It was super cool to see him and catch up. He's in Bielefeld now in the Hannover zone. Lucky haha. We also got Subway, which was great. And I saw other people. So great. The miracle was though that Elder Loitz was still working in the area on splits while I was in the meeting. And he found 3 new investigators and taught a bunch. That was just the best news to hear after sitting around all day haha. After the meeting we met with the L family who made us some delicious food. It was so good. Their apartment was super hot though haha we were both just sweating. It was kind of embarrassing. #sauna

Neumunster Zone

Donnerstag: Thursday was crazy. We wanted to go to Lübeck in the morning, but when we got to the train station, none of the trains were running and everyone was super confused and mad. There were so many people there! Turns out, somebody tried to rob one of the ticket machines with gasoline and fire......I don't think it ended well for anybody involved. But because of the, were were like an hour late to district meeting. It was our last district meeting and a really good one. The Sisters made us planners! That was super cool. Our district is staying the same basically haha. Only Elder Risley in Lübeck is being transferred. So the dream team stays together. After district meeting, we ate tacos that Sister Schoeüf made for us! That was great. Elder Gleason found some freaking Satan peppers at some African shop and we had those. I got Satan pepper sauce in my eye. I cried haha. But it's all good. We got home and had a joint teach planned, but the investigator wasn't home! So we went by on some other less actives and  earlier investigators in the area and reached one. I'm not sure if he still had interest to meet, but he has our number, so bueno. That night we met with H, who is doing A LOT better! He was super happy and telling jokes and being a goof, which was super great to see. H is a champ and we love him. He made us Pizza, too. #hadidelivers

Freitag: Friday was super great. We helped the L's in the morning in their house that they're renovating. Or job was to carry tile from the 3rd floor to outside haha. IT WAS SO HOT OH MY GOSH. But it felt good to get into some normal clothes and help the members. I want a house. That I can renovate haha. And Bruder L has helped us so much with E and speaking French, so it was good to give back. We were there for about 2 hours probably. We studied and got read at home and then ate lunch with the W's! They made some sort of soup thing that was great. We taught them about missionary work and how they can participate. It was buneo. We went home and planned for the week, which was awesome. We are pumped for the next week and transfer. That night we had a mega joint teach at the Franz's house with Frau S. Sister and Bruder Franz were there and Bruder Fenzau was there, too. It was an OK lesson. Frau S is very social and these lessons are more of a social thing than being taught. And she says she won't be baptized...which is sad. It was frustrating. But we love her so much haha she's the best! #ourinvestigatorsrock

Samstag: Saturday morning is always SOCCER! And we go HARD! The members always comment on how every American missionary gets really good at soccer really fast. It's one of the gifts of the spirit. To some is given the gift to beat Germans in soccer. Don't quote me on that. But we played in the morning. H came, which was wonderful. We got home and showered and got ready and studied. We actually talked a lot about goals and set some and revised some others. It was a long talk. Which was probably way more effective then walking around in the oven all day. But we still got out and went by on a lot of people. We met with a less active youth in Hamburg who is super nice but told us honestly that he doesn't have interest to come to church or meet with us. Which is sad, because I think it's affecting his Mom a lot, who hasn't come to church recently. But we totally respect free agency haha. We have to. A crazy miracle happened though! Some of the people Elder Loitz found on Wednesday gave us a wrong address, because they didn't know their street name....(Africans who don't speak German haha) But we met them on the street and talked and got the real address! #pollardinho

Sonntag: Sunday was great! We had church! And we had another crazy miracle. I saw a man that I didn't know and had never seen before and introduced myself. He's an investigator that had investigated, but never met with the missionaries. He said that he had the feeling that he had to go to the Mormon church that day, so he did! The spirit works in everybody. And we met and taught and he made out a new appointment with us! Miracles. After church, we ate with the Fanzaus, which took forever because they were grilling and hadn't started cooking when we showed up haha. But it was super great! So much food oh my gosh. And we got to talk about missionary work with them! After that, we did some doors in Ahrensburg in a street that a member prayerfully chose for us. We didn't finish though. Then we went home and made plans for studying German this next transfer. #sundaynightlights

So the week was pretty packed. We didn't have too many moments when we didn't know what to do haha we had plans. Oh my gosh it's been so hot and I've been loosing weight from working so hard. It's crazy. I've said it so much, but we're pumped for next transfer and that we get to stay together. The work goes on!

Well, I hope you all have a GREAT week! I pray for you all! Wish me luck this week!

Elder Pollard

Week Seventy-seven

Hello friends, here is yet another look into the life of a missionary serving in Delingsdorf, Germany. This last week was pretty good. It went by super slow for some reason. We got some good work in. Except for one day that I thought my head was going to explode. But other then that, there were some really good appointments and a lot was set up for this coming week. We've been working really closely with Bishop Otzmann to try and get the ward more involved in the work. It's kind of funny how members do work when you're a missionary haha. Compared to how much missionaries walk around and plan and worry, every member can do more work haha. But we have two years to just go hard in the paint and try to show people the door to salvation. Normal members have to balance a healthy life with the missionary work. We're still in the figuring it all out-stage of it, so we've been thinking and praying and brainstorming a lot. But it's going well.

Our last week was like:

Montag: Last P-Day was interesting. Elder Loitz and I didn't have too much planned, so we got our shopping and necessary errands done. Then we kind of went home and passed out. For any future missionaries who read this: don't take naps on P-Days. There is something about the human brain that says, 'I'm tired. Nap sounds good. Totally worth it.' It's not though. We slept for like 3 hours haha. And we woke up at 6 to go back to work...yea P-Day isn't a whole day. It's more like P-8 hours...and we were both totally tired and it was just so hard to get up and dressed and go back outside. But we did. Miracle of the day: Bruder Zickler, our GML (ward mission leader) was at the U-Bahn (subway) stop when we showed up. We were so tired and out of it. He told us though that he was at the store and felt the urge to buy some ice cream.....inspiration from God. So we ate ice cream with him. Totally made the whole day worth it. He is such a champion haha. Well we rode to Berne (Hamburg) and went by on Schwester S and her son. We had a good little lesson with them and invited them to come back to church more regularly. That was about it!

Dienstag: Tuesday was just like a lot of being outside and talking to people. We were going door to door before lunch...we've found that in our area, it doesn't really matter at what time we're finding and going door to door. People are either home or they're not haha. We had a good eating appointment with Bruder K, who ordered us some delicious chicken. That was great. After that, we went and met with H at his place. He gave us cake and we taught him about coming to church. The rest of the day was more finding haha. We were out a lot on Tuesday.

Mittwoch: Wednesday was a great day though. We got Zone Training Meeting in Kiel until about 2 in the afternoon. Then we ate some delicious lunch that the couple in Kiel made for us. It was primo. It was good to be with the whole Zone and to learn. Knowledge is power. After the meeting we came back to Delingsdorf and helped be waiters at the blood donation activity at our ward house. We sponsored some Red Cross action and I got to ask people if they wanted juice. It was great.

Donnerstag: Thursday was cool. You hear a lot of stories about the totally cool AHA moments on missions where a missionary gets some insane inspired idea and it totally works........I had never had one of those moments until Thursday. We were walking trying to go by on some older contacts and for some reason I just turned around and started walking the other way. We talked to the first lady we found and she totally listened to us and made out another appointment. My one thought was 'whoa, this stuff really happens'. It was great. And we also got to meet with Schwester D and get to meet her, which was sweet. Good stuff. And then we rode to Lübeck and went on exchanges.

Freitag: Friday was interesting in Lübeck. We had an appointment with a guy who's been investigating for a while now. We talked about free agency and it seemed like he understood. He was cool to teach. We then did some finding in the city center in Lübeck. The weather was super nice so there was just a ton of people there. We ate with some members too. I always go on exchanges when the other Elders have eating appointments. It's great. When I came back to the area, we had another eating appointment with the T's, which are like my favorite people haha they're so cool. It was a good day.

Samstag: Saturday was soccer. It was super fun but it killed me haha I just had the worst headache ever after. We were both down. Later that day we ate with Bruder M and his family. I had never been over there because they live in the middle of the wilderness....in a crazy cool house. They made us 'Mexican' food.

Sonntag: Sudnay was just great. We had no investigators at church, but we had a lot of really good talks with members and we met with the bishop and talked about the work. We ate at the S's and they also made 'Mexican' food haha which was just good tasting. I love it. We also planned that afternoon and came in contact with a less active member.

Well, that was about it for the week. I'm going to try and send some pictures now!




Love you all!

Elder Pollard